A Different Shade of Pitch
by yellowrose87
Summary: Another PITCH fic, this time for the kink meme. "'No...' said Aiber. 'The difference is that you gave him the chance to know you.'" L wonders what things might have been like, had he given Aiber that chance. AiberxL, later RaitoxL. Complete.
1. Prologue: The Difference

**A/N**: Hello! I'm back, and once again I'm riding on uberneko-zero's coattails with a PITCH fic, this time for the kink meme. The prompt was:

"_Aiber/L in the universe of the fantastic fanfic 'PITCH' by uberneko-zero. Would like it if the characters are written as close to uberneko-zero's style as possible, but not necessary. Can include Light/L and other PITCH characters if writer wishes."_

I didn't consciously try to write in uberneko's style this time, but since I wanted to try and keep the characters and general tone consistent, I wound up kind of doing it anyway XD There will be a measure of RaitoxL later on, but the main focus is on AiberxL. I'm not sure if the original prompt quite counts as a "kink," but I think I've included enough kinky stuff in the fic to merit inclusion in the meme. Kinks will include such things as: mirrors, age gap, first time, shades of D/s, manipulation, and unhealthy relationships.

I'm actually a little nervous, posting this here. It seems that whenever Aiber appears in PITCH, half the reviewers say that they hope he dies, they hate him with the fire of a thousand suns, etc., so as I begin posting a long AiberxL fic set in that universe, I kind of fear for my safety. Please rest assured, PITCH fans – L will not cheat on Raito, get raped by Aiber, or fall in love with him in this story. This is more like an AU prequel than anything else. Most of it takes place before L meets Raito, and it only "happens" inside of L's head, anyway. The prologue and epilogue take place during what we may call the "lost week," the time after the motel incident in which L and Raito aren't in contact with each other and are set to perpetual angst mode.

**Even if you've never read PITCH, though, please stay!** I think this story can mostly stand on its own. All you really need to know is that it takes place in an AU without Kira or the Death Notes. L lives in Tokyo, where he makes a living as a private investigator and frets about his social inadequacies; Raito (of a similar age to L) is some sort of "political lobbyist." Aiber is basically Aiber, though without his canon family. He and Raito fight over L, and L gets dumped on a lot by both of them. There, now you're up to speed.

As a point of pride (maybe), and as further enticement to non-PITCH readers who like Aiber, I'll add this: **when this fic is completely posted, it will be, by far, the longest DN fic on this site to list Aiber as one of the "main characters," and quite possibly the longest Aiber fic in the fandom.** Also, Aiber's probably never gotten as much sex in a single fic before as he does in this story. So if you like Aiber slash at all, or even just AiberxL, I hope you will give this a try.

This fic is actually already finished, and it's really all part of a long one-shot. I'm posting it in chapters mainly because, at close to 40 000 words, it just seems too large for a single chapter. And in any case, I want to squeeze as many reviews and page views out of you all as possible XD That's what happens when you're little-known in the fandom. Anyway, what this all means is that there's no danger of the story being abandoned, and you can expect rapid updates, no more than a few days apart. The chapter breaks aren't yet set in stone, but there should be about eight chapters in total.

I hope you enjoy the story. Now on with the show!

**Disclaimer**: Death Note belongs to Ohba and Obata, and I can't think of a clever disclaimer.

**Rated M** for sex and a sprinkling of bad language.

* * *

><p>Prologue: <strong>The Difference<strong>

L flopped onto his bed with his hand over his eyes. When had it all gone so wrong?

Suddenly, he'd somehow gone from being a man nobody could ever want to a man being savagely fought over by a pair of arrogant assholes, each one obsessed with making him his own. For the life of him, L couldn't figure out how it had happened. He hadn't changed anything about himself – in fact, it was his inability to change and open up that had led to the failed experiments at the bar. He almost wondered if he'd begun secreting some sort of pheromone that was irresistible to domineering lunatics. It would certainly explain a lot.

But perhaps there was a simpler explanation. For one thing, it was stupid to consider the events as if they'd only begun weeks ago, as if the two men had suddenly come hounding after his body out of the blue. Raito had found him because he'd tried to get out of his shell for once. Aiber, it now appeared, had been wanting him for years, unbeknownst to him. L wondered why, after years of doing nothing about this desire, Aiber had suddenly gone into stalkerish overdrive the instant Raito had come into his life. Perhaps he'd just assumed that L was untouchable, asexual, immune to seduction. Perhaps Raito's arrival on the scene had shown him how very wrong he was. Aiber seemed to feel now that the years he'd known (and desired) L gave him first dibs, and that Raito had stolen out from under him the lover that was supposed to be his. Now that the prospect of having L no longer seemed impossible, Aiber was furious at himself for having never seriously tried, thinking that if _Yagami_ could do it, he most certainly could have. Thus the hyper-aggressiveness and the stalking. And now that Raito had such aggressive competition, it was bringing out his own psychotic tendencies.

Well, maybe that last bit was an oversimplification. Surely that business at the motel had had nothing to do with Aiber….That had been purely about control, about keeping L quite literally under lock and key until he lost the strength to resist Raito's all-consuming lust.

No. He didn't want to think about that. Thinking about Raito hurt. Rather think of anything than think of the infuriating, beautiful man that had woven his thorny vines into L's heart. At the moment, he would rather contemplate the insane curiosities of _Aiber_ than fall back into that emotional sinkhole.

Did Aiber actually feel _hurt_ about his rejection?, L wondered. Or was he just insulted that his object of lust had not lain meekly down before him? Perhaps it was some of both. Certain as he was lying here now, L knew that Aiber did not love him. Yet he did, at times, seem to truly like L, or at least seem to enjoy toying around with him like a cat with a mouse. Even before Aiber had known what Raito was about, he'd refused to give him information about L. But then again, did that count as protecting L from a potential enemy, or just preserving L for the sake of future cases, money and the entertainment of torturing him? Again, it was probably some of each.

Once again now L heard the last exchange between him and Aiber, the day they'd crossed paths at Raito's workplace and Aiber had once again tried to lay hands on him.

"_I felt you giving in to me, L…"_

"_Give up on this, Aiber. You're making an enemy of me."_

"_You were considering it just now."_

"_I always consider things before dismissing them outright. If you knew me at all, you'd know that. Raito would know that, and therein lies the difference between you."_

"_No…the difference is that you gave him the chance to know you."_

Was there any chance at all that Aiber could have gotten him into bed? It was impossible now, what with Raito in his life and his heart firmly in Raito's possession. But what about before that? He and Aiber went way back, all the way to his days as a weedy teenager just breaking into detective work. Had he really tried, Aiber would have had years and years to work on seducing him before any competition ever entered the picture. How would he have reacted to Aiber's touch, had there never been another in his bed or in his heart?

There was something sleazy about Aiber, about his open-necked shirts and scraggly hair and scratchy stubble. He certainly wasn't as good-looking as Raito, though Misa had deigned to sleep with him, and he imagined her to be very picky about her lovers' looks. In some ways, his oily brand of masculinity was more potent than Raito's version – big and brash as opposed to refined and clever. He was sure he didn't like it.

But maybe, in another life, he would have found it intoxicating.

L was sure he didn't want Aiber, not while he had Raito. _Not while he had Raito_. But could things actually have been different, had Aiber made his desire known before Raito had wandered into L's life and made him his?

The scenes his mind now invented flashed before his eyes with the clarity of memory – the memory of what never was, but what might have been. Reality intermixed with it, but for the most part, the movie in his mind was cut from whole cloth. A vision of what might have been…


	2. Chapter One: Meeting the Conman

Chapter One: **Meeting the Conman**

"You look…different from what I had expected."

L was already becoming used to this reaction from prospective clients. But something about Yamamoto's tone really irked him.

"Did you expect a trenchcoat and magnifying glass?" he said testily.

"No…" said Yamamoto, a bit taken aback.

_When's the last time an employee _didn't_ suck up to him? Too long ago, obviously._

"I think what my partner here is trying to say is that people generally think of detectives as more physically imposing, older and more battle-weary, harder-living…manlier, if you will. You look like a stiff breeze might knock you over." The other man, Aiber, stepped forward, looking him slowly up and down with a smirk on his lips.

_God, but I hate foreigners_, L thought, never minding the fact that he was one himself, albeit one who'd spent the bulk of his life in Japan. _Especially the men. They come here for women and money and sake, and never give a damn about anyone but themselves._

"How old are you, kid? 17, 18?"

"19." As of last month.

"Still got a few years on you, then. I'm approaching the big 3-0 myself – but hey, don't let your inexperience get you down. It was Aso Naoto-san who recommended you to us, and you must remember how exacting he is. He only takes on the best, so I assume that's what you are. And don't worry if people are surprised by you now. I'm sure you'll grow into the job soon enough."

He patted L's shoulder in a fatherly way, and L had to suppress the urge to shake him off and sock him in the nose.

_The nerve of him! _he thought. _Who the hell does he think he is?_

"When can you start?" Yamamoto said.

"I can start immediately. But first I need to know more details about the case…"

As L and Yamamoto discussed the terms of their deal, L watched Aiber out of the corner of the eye. He didn't like the way the man was looking at him. There was an intensity in his gaze, a look of intrigue and something else that L didn't quite know how to place. It was unsettling, at any rate.

"…I think that is all the information I have to give you. The rest is up to you, L-kun. We have to be off now, but I will be in touch with you tonight. And for future reference, know that if there are any new developments, you may call me at any time, day or night. You needn't think of disturbing me – I will sleep sounder with the knowledge that progress is being made."

"That goes for myself as well," said Aiber, and there was still that indefinable something shining in his eyes. "We're putting a lot of trust in you, so don't be a stranger."

"Good day, L-kun. I will message you sometime this evening to check up on you," said Yamamoto, and with that he turned to leave.

"Go get 'em, tiger," Aiber said, and L knew he'd said it purely to enrage him. He looked over his shoulder as he left after Yamamoto and gave L a long smirk as if he knew something L didn't.

* * *

><p>Contrary to what the ever-anxious Yamamoto seemed to think, the case turned out to be relatively straightforward, albeit time-consuming. It wasn't until the case was nearly over, a few weeks later, that L found himself obliged to look deeper into the company records – but when he did, he was not at all pleased with what he found.<p>

"Aiber-san, I need to examine your and Yamamoto-san's tax returns. There seems to be some funny business going on."

"Oh, I know what you're talking about. A few months ago we hired an accountant by the name of Koiso Ichiro to do our tax returns. Not a thief, but an idiot if there ever was one: repeatedly bungled our information and completely miscalculated the amount of money owed. He's been replaced and his errors have done no long-term damage, but they do remain on some of the older documents. Don't worry about it, L. I've seen the papers myself, and it's all a clerical error. I think we would've noticed if ¥3 200 000 had suddenly gone missing from our bankrolls. I assure you, it's all been accounted for."

"But it's not only that, there's another thing – "

"Just leave it," Aiber said, in a voice that did not brook disobedience. "Don't waste the time we pay you for to go snooping around in our records to no good purpose. I tell you, it's been accounted for. You're the detective, I'm the businessman; you're the employee, and I'm the boss. I have faith in my business partners and I am sure that everything's as it should be. _Leave it_."

The look Aiber gave him promised grave bodily harm if he did not comply. L set the papers aside, thinking that if the money were indeed missing, he had a very good idea of who might have taken it.

All in all, it had been a relief when the Yamamoto case had ended, if only to escape the man whom L increasingly suspected was a conman. He had in fact continued his investigation into the company finances, and while he had not found anything concrete enough to bring Aiber to court, his gut told him he was guilty, and L's gut was rarely wrong. Yet despite Yamamoto's nervous personality, Aiber had earned his complete trust, and L knew that if he let slip his suspicions, it would go badly for him. Aiber was just so much more persuasive than he was.

* * *

><p>A couple of months later, a message appeared in L's inbox requesting his help in a new case. A simple enough affair, but unusual in that it was a corporate board member requesting his help on behalf of the company, rather than a private individual or at best, a small business owner. In terms of clients, L tended to attract mostly the small fry – the moneyed corporations and the upper crust seemed to look down on him, with his scruffy-student appearance and small, messy home office. More than once, a gentleman or lady clad in a business suit had stepped into that office, taken one look around and departed. So it was a surprise to see the individual from UmeCorp inform him that the board had requested him personally, and would not allow another to take the case.<p>

"We've been told you are the best," said the woman, "and your track record, low-key though it is, appears to confirm your skill. If you agree to it, we will be most happy to do business with you."

And so L, intrigued both by the puzzle the case provided and the likely fee it would generate, immediately signed on.

He was told to meet the clients in the lobby of the UmeCorp building in Marunochi. When they arrived, L was stunned the see a familiar, smirking face among them.

"Aiber-san! You again."

"Indeed it is. Nice to see you again, sport," said Aiber, giving L that patronising smile L had come to hate so much. "But unfortunately I am here for business, not pleasure. We have reason to believe that our competitors have placed a spy among our product development personnel. The spy, from what we have gathered, has been sharing blueprints, company emails, notes from brainstorming sessions, etc. with The Kishin Group. Obviously we need to find out the spy, and we also need to gather the evidence to take Kishin to court. Above all, seek out links between the spy and the higher-ups at Kishin. We want to bury these people, if we can."

"I see," said L. _Just what scheme are you cooking up now?_

When the little meet-and-greet was over, Aiber summoned L away to a shadowy corner where they could speak alone.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, L," said Aiber, who seemed amused by the glare L was levelling at him.

"I certainly can't say the same for you, although I'll be happy to pocket more of your _hard-earned_ money on this case. What happened to Yamamoto-san, anyway?"

"I'm afraid the business has taken a turn for the worse. Fouled-up contracts, bad investments…not to mention that a big slice of our profits was siphoned off by an embezzler who has yet to be apprehended." He inspected his nails for a moment, then flashed L a smirk that told him everything he needed to know.

"Having freed myself from that sinking ship, I made the rounds looking for a business partner to whom I might attach myself and reverse my bad fortune. Happily, I soon found a contact at UmeCorp, who brought me to the board of directors as his associate. They were leary of me at first, seeing as how I just popped up out of the blue, but I am slowly becoming accepted as one of their own. Good thing, too, seeing as how most of my salary thus far has gone towards paying off the debts I accrued with Yamamoto…"

"Perhaps. Yet if you are so badly off, why is your Armani suit so immaculate it must be newly bought? Recent manicure, haircut, new ring….Far from a poor boy, you look as if you've been on a spending spree."

"I know what you're thinking, L. But I can assure you everything I did with Yamamoto was completely by the book. You think I want to spend the rest of my life in prison? You must know my tastes run far too fine for that." He gave L an odd look as he said this. "I may not be a detective, but I know how not to attract their attention. With you being the exception, of course. I was highly impressed with the work you did for us before, and I can guarantee that whenever I need such services, I will call on _you_. So expect more business from me in the future."

_He's like a schoolboy that pulls girls' hair just to hear them scream_, L thought. _And he makes it sound like he's doing me a favour!_

Surely he knew how much L hated him, and was provoking him out of spite, just to see what would happen. The only explanation was that he thrived on making L miserable – why else would he deliberately seek to torment L this way?

_I am in for a long few weeks._

* * *

><p>Aiber was as true as his word. In the coming months, L found that whenever Aiber and the current victims of his conning needed a detective – which was surprisingly often, L thought – it was always him that was called in. Aiber seemed to fairly revel in the experience of tormenting L whenever, and indeed wherever, possible. Indonesia, England, China, Brazil, Germany – Aiber's crooked business seemed to take him all over the world. In just how many languages had he swindled innocent business people, anyway? Even L would admit that, compared to anybody but himself, Aiber had a very good grasp on languages. All the more opportunity to cheat people, L supposed. Yet as much as he hated Aiber, he still had to admire the sheer guts it took to charm people and steal their money right out from under their noses. He'd make cursory attempts once or twice to investigate Aiber, but the man seemed to be just clever enough to prevent L from compiling a good court case. The sheer audacity of Aiber's cons boggled his mind…and he had to admit that he did somewhat envy Aiber his people skills. So unlike L, Aiber seemed to know just how to play people….If it were a skill that could be taught, L would've paid quite a lot to learn what Aiber apparently knew by instinct.<p>

The last time he'd seen Aiber, the man's meddling and pestering and reached such a pitch that L finally snapped and told him not to seek him out anymore. The money, it now seemed to him, was no longer worth the hassle that working under Aiber entailed. When he returned home, he had deleted Aiber's email address from his laptop and instructed Watari not to accept calls from him any longer. It had felt such a relief to cut Aiber loose, and know that even if Aiber tried to contact him again, he would never have to see his stupid face anymore.

A month later, he found out how very wrong he was.

* * *

><p>It was another corporate case, the very lucrative kind which – L had to admit – had become far easier to procure since his successful stint with Aiber and UmeCorp. This time he had been brought right up to the boardroom, a first for him, although the attendant pride he felt took a hit when he actually arrived and found the room nearly empty, and with half the lights turned off. A man who introduced himself as the Takeshita with whom L had corresponded bowed and greeted him; another man, who sat lounging in a corner chair with a hat over his face, made no move. L stepped forward with his hand outstretched for a handshake, if that was what the man preferred, but the anonymous man seemed content to stay that way. It seemed an incredible snub to L, as if he weren't important enough for the man to waste time greeting him.<p>

The rude man and the empty room aside, though, all seemed well as L and Takeshita discussed the terms of case. Or at least, it did until L suddenly found a wrench thrown in the works, such a one as he had never expected to encounter.

"…Your references have spoken very highly of your skills, of course, and I have no doubt that you are capable of the job. But considering the scope of the case" – that meant he didn't think L was could do it alone – "And our limited time frame, I have taken on another detective to help you deal with the load. I thought I might as well get that out now. Come on," said Takeshita, gesturing to the man in the hat, "don't be such a layabout, come greet our newest member of the team."

The rude man slowly stood and removed his hat, and L realized that it was Aiber.

"We know each other already, boss, so introductions will not be necessary," he said. And then he smiled at L. "The two of us get along like peas in a pod. It'll be a pleasure working together, I'm sure."

L was too shell-shocked to respond.

"Well, I certainly hope so," said Takeshita. "It'll take close cooperation and coordination between you to tackle a case of this magnitude."

"It won't be a problem. This one here's quite a fighter, and I'm no slouch myself. Our styles are rather different, but that mostly just means we complement one another. I have a feeling our partnership will be a very fruitful one." His eyes briefly met L's.

"Let it be so. Now, L-san, I have already filled Aiber-san in on the details of the case, but before you start working you should know…"

L barely listened to the rest of Takeshita's ramblings, and once they left Takeshita's hearing, L grabbed Aiber by the forearm and pulled him sharply around to face him.

"What's the meaning of this, Aiber? What are you trying to do this time? You're pretending to be a detective now? !"

"Not _pretending_, my friend. I am what I am," said Aiber, curling the fingers of his free hand around L's, and wrenching them off his person. "Of course, I am only starting out in this line of work, so it's only natural that I would want to work with you and see how a real pro goes about it. Especially with a case this size – you can imagine how I might feel out of my depth here, considering that this is my first stab at detective work. I found this case almost by accident."

L seriously doubted that.

"I was closing a deal with some associates of Takeshita, and happened to hear that the man was looking for a private detective. It seemed difficult, but you know how much I love a good challenge –"

"I know how much you love money."

"– so I decided to contact Takeshita myself and offer my services. I confess I engaged in a bit of creative resumé-writing. Once I was hired and confronted with the case itself, I realized I would need an old hand to help me out –"

"To do your work for you."

"– And so I started dropping hints that guided Takeshita towards taking on another detective, and you in particular. It is my hope that you will assist me…will partner me on this case."

For a moment, L just stared at him in dismay and disbelief. When he found his voice again, he said, "Aiber, why are you doing this to me? Are you mocking me for what I said in Germany?"

"_If you are in need of a detective for your games, start looking elsewhere or become one yourself…"_

"Not at all. After our last meeting, I gave what you said a good thinking over, and it occurred to me that you were right. Why employ others –"

"You mean me."

"– others to do what I could do for myself, free of charge? And why not expand my skills, and increase my work opportunities? You know how sporadic my employment can be…"

"Because you swindle your partners and clients blind!"

"So you say. You've always believed the worst of me without a shred of proof."

"We both know it's true."

Aiber gave him a hard stare. "Now, L, this won't do at all. We'll need to present a united front to Takeshita in order to keep this case. He's jumpy, and might bail if there seems to be friction between us."

"You go out of your way to create it."

"Really? I haven't felt any _friction_ as of yet between us." A smirk played about Aiber's lips as if something amused him. L wasn't sure he was in on the joke. But then, he had always been a joke to Aiber anyway, hadn't he?

_Well, har-dee-fucking-har_, L thought. _I won't let you suck me in this time._

"Takeshita-san and his associates are going to pay us ¥5 000 000, which means 2.5 million straight into your bank account. When's the last time you had a case with those stakes? I know you love challenges….And I do love money. So stick around and help us both out, why don't you?"

"Spiting you would be reason enough," L said, although privately he thought that ¥2 500 000 was actually more difficult to refuse than he'd thought.

"Oh, come on, L, where's your sense of adventure? I know you've never worked with a partner before, and neither have I, for that matter. Come to think of it, when's the last time you really spoke to another human being, besides Watari? You could really use the time away from your cold computer, and don't try to tell me otherwise."

"But I –"

At that moment Aiber's watch began beeping, and he glanced at it with apparent displeasure.

"Sorry, L, I have to run now, but I suggest we get together later tonight and begin brainstorming how to tackle this case. I'll find a good restaurant and text you the details shortly."

And he swept away again before L had a chance to refuse. When L returned home, he considered writing an email to Aiber and Takeshita cancelling his involvement with the case, but in the end the lure of ¥2 500 000 proved too much to resist. He couldn't help but feel ashamed, too, at the reminder Aiber had given him of just how empty his life was outside of work. It really would be the first time in a very _long_ time that he had spent any significant part of the day away from his computer, and the womb-like environment of his home office. He would feel guilty about it if he refused.

Had Aiber been counting on that?

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I'm actually surprised there aren't more Aiber stories out there. Or rather, I'm surprised at the lack of _long_ Aiber stories. Fics focused on him and the people he beds are generally one-shots of only a few thousand words, and I wonder why. Perhaps it's because he isn't developed much in canon – but then again, Matt's even less developed, and look what happened there XD Part of it is probably that Aiber isn't particularly important to the canon plot, which makes it difficult to write stories in which he leads the action. Also, we don't really know any details about his life, which means that writing an Aiber fic requires you to make up a life story for him, or at least part of one, out of scratch, and it can be very difficult to get inside his head. Nor does Aiber seem to have any particularly deep relationships with other characters in canon. Matt, of course, is attached at the hip to the ever-popular Mello, which means that for all the many, many fangirls who want Mello to be fucking someone, Matt's the most natural choice. Even in canon, it's obvious that they're very close, and fangirls can build on that. But whom, in canon, is Aiber really close to? With whom does he have a relationship that is developed at all? No one, and that makes him a lot more difficult to write for. Thankfully, uberneko-zero solved that problem for me by inventing a very intense relationship with L that goes back years. And since this is a Kira-less AU, I can make Aiber as important to the plot as I see fit, and I can invent a version of Aiber's past that revolves around his relationship with another canon character, L. And so, here we are.

The second longest Aiber fic, if you search on FFN, is a very clever and affecting little story called _In Vino Veritas_, and I definitely recommend it. It's also an AiberxL story (well, more like AiberxLxAiber), though this story actually follows canon, and includes an interesting backstory about Aiber's family and why his codename is what it is. If you like this pairing, I also recommend _Practiced Liars_ by the awesome Sashocirrione. I wish I could recommend _Carmilla's House_, an incredibly hot vampire!AiberxLight fic by Tarshil, but unfortunately she's taken it down. It was perhaps this fic more than any other that made me want to write a good, hot Aiber story. Let's all go pester her to repost it!

L's complaint about foreigners, and foreign men in particular, is pretty common in countries like Japan, Korea, etc. It's a bad stereotype, but I thought it would be funny for L to make use of it, considering that he's a foreigner himself. In uberneko's story, I seem to remember that he thinks of Aiber as a foreigner more than once. The Yamamoto I have Aiber working with, by the way, is a reference to Light's friend Yamamoto in canon, and I imagine that the two are related :D

The age gap between L and Aiber is canon, by the way. When I was thinking the story out, I wondered how much older Aiber is than L, and I estimated that the age gap might be 7-8 years. Then I consulted my trusty Vol. 13, and found that it is actually 10.5 years! So I decided to use it.

I had a bit of fun with the company names in this chapter. I wanted at least one to have a flower/fruit name like Sakura TV, and thus we got UmeCorp, from the word "ume," which means plum. Kishin are apparently some kind of demon, and thus I named the corrupt competitors, The Kishin Group, after them.

Honestly, I feel a bit bad that my largest contribution to the Death Note fandom – more than _five times_ the length of my next longest – is a fanfic of a fanfic, for the kink meme, set in a universe without Kiras or, er, _Death Notes_, in which my two favourite characters (L and Light) are obviously different from canon, and in which my OTP (L and Light, haha) is only a side pairing. But I will say this: it was fucking _fun_ to write this! So if I enjoyed writing it, and if you enjoy reading it, then I guess that's all we can ask from a fanfic. I hope you did enjoy the first couple of chapters, and I hope to see you again, next update!


	3. Chapter Two: In the Lair of Beasts

Chapter Two: **In the Lair of Beasts**

Working with Aiber the detective turned out to be, if possible, even worse than working under Aiber the greasy businessman. Aiber was obviously completely inexperienced in investigative work, and made elementary mistakes, time and again. Much of the time, Aiber simply watched as L conducted the case on both their behalfs – or, more often, pestered L incessantly while he was trying to work. It was swiftly driving him insane. But there was no point in protesting – as he now knew, Aiber had been hired first, and despite Takeshita's words to L at the start of the case, it was clear that he considered Aiber to be the lead detective and L the understudy. If L upset this idea, they would probably both be fired. And while L didn't really need the money, ¥2 500 000 was a huge haul to pull in for a single case, which made it a matter of pride, and the case itself was actually quite fascinating. He would be sorry to lose it, no matter how irritating his supposed partner might be.

When the case finally ended, L parted with the high of a job well done and the relief that he would finally be able to get away from Aiber. Yet Aiber made it clear, on the final day of their partnership, that he was not nearly through with messing L around yet.

Aiber had dragged him to some high-end restaurant and offered to pay for whatever L would have. He hadn't even flinched when L, in an odd mixture of spite and curiosity, had ordered most of the dessert menu all at once, just to see what would happen. Now, as L worked his way through the mass of mousses and ice creams and chocolate brownies, Aiber watched him with a strange little smile and a look of content in his eyes, as if life were turning out just as he wanted it.

"L," he eventually said, and L surfaced from the sea of treats to hear what he had to say.

_I hope he's not going to fob the bill off on me after all…_

"I've really enjoyed our partnership, you know. You've been a good colleague and a good friend, not least for putting up with the likes of me." He laughed as if he'd said something amusing. "And I have some good news. As it happens, I'm in the process now of securing a new case that I think would be perfect for us…"

"Absolutely not! I'm through working with you."

"What if I told you the case was worth ¥20 000 000 to us – each?"

L paused. "I'd wonder just who you were blackmailing to squeeze that kind of dough from them."

"It's the truth, L. And it's a really good case – unlike anything you've ever taken on before."

"Just get to the point, Aiber."

"Surely you know of the scandal surrounding our dear Foreign Minister Hayashi Gonbe? Well then, what if I told you that he wanted to hire us both to find out the ones who leaked his mistresses' information to the press?"

"I thought it was common knowledge that Kan Yasuko leaked the information, after finding she was not his only kept woman."

"It's a lie. He kept all his mistresses very happy and rich. No, based on the available evidence, it's nearly certain to have been a political rival who did it." Aiber smiled rather hungrily, as if the thrill of political intrigue was just too much to keep inside, and even L had to admit he was intrigued. "The future politics of the nation may hinge on what we find."

"How in the world did you get this case?" said L in disbelief. "How did you even find out he was looking for a detective? Did you approach Hayashi-san…?"

"It doesn't matter," said Aiber dismissively, and L was sure there had been bribes involved, and maybe other tricks, too. "The important thing is, it's in our hands. We'd be stupid to refuse this case, L. It'll take your career to heights you never dreamed of. I promise, we'll meet the clients together, and I'll make sure there are no misunderstandings like with Takeshita-san."

In the end, L found the lure of the case just too much to resist.

* * *

><p>If L had hoped the meet the Foreign Minister, he was sadly disappointed. While the Minister was aware of their work and gave it his blessing, L and Aiber had actually been hired by members of Hayashi's party on his behalf, and it was to a short little man called Ishibashi and a fat little woman called Saionji that they would make their reports. They first met with Ishibashi and Saionji in a spacious, wood-panelled office in the main Party Headquarters.<p>

"You are Aiber-san, I trust?" said Saionji.

"I am…"

"And who is this with you?"

L froze. _He said we would meet the clients together, as equals!_

"Ah, yes. This is L-san. He's a junior detective working with me on the case."

L's jaw dropped. _Junior detective?_ ! As if Aiber were the master and L the humble apprentice. L nearly turned around to leave right then and there, but Aiber caught his eyes and held them in a stony stare that somehow rooted his feet to the ground. Ishibashi, noticing where Aiber was looking, added the weight of his own gaze, and L quickly snapped his jaw closed again to avoid looking like an idiot.

_I am going to kill him. The bastard lied to my face without batting an eye. I am going to _murder_ him. _

"Two foreigners?" said Ishibashi. "Are there any – er – Japanese members of your team? It's not that I'm uncomfortable with you, but there may be some here who find it hard to entrust our Minister and our party's reputation to men without a real stake in Japan's future."

_Two murders, then. _

"I have lived here for the better part of my life, Ishibashi-sensei," said L, who was trying to decide whom he wanted to throttle first, Ishibashi or Aiber. "And what's more, I intend to stay here. Japan is my home, and I do have a stake in its future. While I can't speak for Aiber-san, I can say that his knowledge of Japanese customs and manners is impeccable, and he understands as well as I do the delicacy of this operation, and the need for it to succeed."

_He understands only the need to make money. But I don't want to lose this case. And there's no one who can do it better than me._

Aiber beamed at L like a proud father. L resisted the urge to punch him in the nose. Ishibashi, who looked a little sour, said, "Well, I hope that is the case, young man. It's true there have been occasions in Japan's history when foreigners have contributed to the nation. But bear in mind, I will not tolerate slacking off or _impertinence_ of any kind." His tone made it clear that impertinence was exactly what he thought L's outburst displayed. "I expect the same work ethic from you that I would get from any good salaryman. And considering the power I have in the Diet, I would counsel you not to disappoint me. That will be all."

When they were on their own once again, L exploded.

"How dare you, _how dare you _do this to me? You wouldn't be able to tie your shoes without my help, and yet you go off telling clients I'm working under you? !"

"I was going to tell you, L, but I didn't have a – "

"_Tell me? _What the hell do you mean, _tell me_? We both know I'll be doing all the work here, and so as far as I'm concerned, the case is mine. _I_ will be the one to make decisions about how we handle clients –"

"You'll make the decisions?" Aiber said with a sneer. "You? You're still a child. Maybe Ishibashi was on to something just now – you need to learn to respect your elders, kiddo."

L flushed, but continued, "I'm nearly twenty years old now, hardly an infant, and yet you –"

"What? I gave you the title Junior Detective and I say it's completely accurate; why, you've barely finished growing. You're a teenage weed of a boy –"

"I'm the lead detective here –"

" – who thinks he can have everything his way because he's smart. Lucky for you that I'm here, or you'd start to get too big for your britches. Couldn't tie my shoes without you, huh? You've never landed a case this big in your life, and you know it. And you know why? Because for all your esoteric crime knowledge and investigative know-how, you're still a green-horned naïf at heart. You have no idea how to deal with people, or how to properly market yourself. Until you do, you're going to really struggle to find work. And that's why you need me around. People trust a man who's older and well-dressed and confident, and they are far more likely to hire him than they are to waste their time on an _impertinent_ boy playing detective."

"You – !"

"All that matters in the end is how you appear to the client. You saw that idiot Ishibashi just now. Do you think you'd have a chance in hell of keeping this case if I weren't here to grease the wheels? These are _politicians_, L, they're not like normal people. They'll eat you alive. Lucky I'm here to look out for you" – he ran a finger down L's cheek – "to get you this case in the first place, to keep your head on straight…"

"I was doing just fine before you came along," L said through clenched teeth.

"Every case I've gotten for you has helped you. And what thanks do I get?"

"How 'bout a hefty paycheck."

"I'd rather have your friendship."

L snorted, knowing quite well that there was nothing Aiber liked more than money. "No sort of friend that I've ever seen goes behind a friend's back to torment him. I need no such friend, nor do I need a babysitter to keep me from pissing my pants as I do the job I've trained for all my life!"

"Oh yes, you do," snarled Aiber, grabbing a hold of L's wrist and wrenching him closer; when L struggled, Aiber grabbed a hold of his hair and shoved him hard against the wall. "You listen to me now. I'm the one who got this case, I'm the one who'll keep it for you, and _I'm_ the one who'll be making the decisions here."

"Aiber, let me go!"

"There's no way for you to win this. We've already met the clients, so there's no hope of you getting control now. If we show the slightest imperfection, they'll replace us. Stop whining and face the facts."

"Get the hell off me, now!"

"Listen to me!"

"_Now!_"

And somewhat to his surprise, Aiber complied. He removed his death grip on L's hair and arm and fell back with a look of disgust. "Fine, don't listen. I'm only trying to help you out, you know. But if this is the thanks I get, then perhaps I shouldn't bother."

"Don't. I'll never work you with again," L said, stooping with his hands on his knees as he recovered from the roughing up Aiber had given him. "Once this case is done, I never want to see your face again."

"I'll believe that when I see it. I mean more to you than you admit."

"Just this case. After that, we're through," said L through gritted teeth. And with that he stormed away.

But for all his bravado, it was with a feeling of deep unease that he returned home to the comfort of his office and computer. Aiber's words had sunk down deep. No matter how much L knew Aiber was in the wrong, the man was too good at making his own defense, and making sure that L couldn't make his. Was it even possible to argue with Aiber properly when he had all the tools, and L had none? Was there any chance at all that Aiber wouldn't have his way this time, as he always had before?

"_I mean more to you than you admit."_

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Although, it was true that Aiber that was only real human contact he now had, besides Watari. What would it mean if he were to lose that, so that the old man was his only link left to the rest of humanity? As much as he hated Aiber, the idea of losing even this tenuous link to the outside world was appalling; it represented a failure on his part, and failure was not something that L took well.

Aiber knew this. In fact, he counted on it, in order to keep L under his thumb. L's social weakness had always been Aiber's gain, as he used L in his cons and now in his detective cases, knowing that he could manipulate L into helping him when he needed it, into being a source of entertainment or a punching bag when Aiber wanted one, into…just what did Aiber really want from him, anyway? No matter how much he encroached upon L's life, he never seemed satisfied. The one constant in their relationship was Aiber's push for greater contact between them, greater involvement in L's life, and L's faltering maneuvers to prevent it.

He had seen the look on Aiber's face after he announced the end of their partnership. The anger and upset there were such that he had never seen before. He would fight L on this. Moreover, Aiber was a vindictive sort of man, certainly not the kind to try to nicely wheedle L back to his side. L had a feeling that Aiber would do his very best to make this case a living hell for him.

* * *

><p>Over the coming weeks, Aiber rubbed L's status in his face at every opportunity, and especially in front of their clients.<p>

"L-san, I need you to go get the files from Hata-san's office," he might say.

"L-san, did you ever get that data I asked you for?"

Once, he had even suggested that L go get coffee for them, like some kind of Office Lady! When L had angrily refused, Aiber waved it off and said he was just kidding, and everyone but L had had a good laugh about it all. Saionji's tittering laugh, L decided, was of a particularly obnoxious kind.

Saionji seemed quite taken with Aiber and flirted with him outrageously, and he for his part was all too ready to indulge her. L would watch the grotesque proceedings with a kind of morbid fascination, like one watching a train wreck in slow motion. L was fervently glad not to be the focus of Saionji's attention, yet her attitude towards him was really no better, for she execrated L quite as much as she fawned over Aiber. She nearly never spoke to L directly, but addressed Aiber alone whenever it was humanly possible. When she did have to acknowledge L's existence, she did so mostly in the form of scathing comments and loathing looks that seemed to will him to disappear forever. He'd caught her eyes shifting suspiciously between himself and Aiber sometimes, as if she suspected some foul play behind the scenes, but L could not imagine what that might be. Perhaps she imagined him to be some foul parasite feeding off her golden boy. Perhaps she was jealous of him for the mere fact that he was working with Aiber. In any case, her attitude made the case all the more stressful, and Aiber's general obnoxiousness certainly didn't help.

But even Aiber could not compete with the obnoxiousness of Ishibashi. Ishibashi made it clear that he liked neither L nor Aiber, but it always seemed to be L who received the brunt of his rudeness. Perhaps this was because he felt he needed Aiber to conduct the case for him and ultimately help his party, whereas he viewed L as little more than Aiber's errand boy, and thus not worth any pretence of politeness. When L had refused to bring coffee, Ishibashi had actually looked quite offended, although he covered his anger with a laugh. Clearly, he saw L as a servant and nothing more – L had seen him treat his underlings and the actual OLs this way, too. Perhaps L should not have been surprised, for Ishibashi was, in fact, a scion of a very influential political family, which had counted two former prime ministers as their own, with Ishibashi clearly aiming to be the third. L had seen pictures of the family estate, and knew that the man had been born with a platinum spoon in his mouth. Now and then, Ishibashi still _wittily _called him "OL-san," and even joked with Aiber not to "try and seduce this young worker of yours." That was one of the only times that L ever saw the shadow of a flush on Aiber's cheeks. Truly, it was a terrible man that could embarrass _Aiber_.

All in all, L couldn't remember the last time he'd been so stressed.

One rainy evening, L found himself and Aiber once again giving an account of their progress on the case. L estimated that it would be done in a couple of weeks or less, but Ishibashi insisted on reports almost every day, as if that would somehow get him an answer more quickly, as opposed to taking time away from the case. Aiber talked and L stood morosely beside him, tuning out the words and hoping that things would end soon so he could get back to his actual work. He jumped a little when he heard his name.

"L-san? L-san? Are you even listening to me, boy?"

"Y-yes," he lied. "I'm sorry, what was it you wanted?"

"A good start would be to not have _you_ staring gormlessly at the ground like some kind of feeble retard. I can't remember the last time an employee has acted so disrespectfully."

"Oh, I apologize, Ishibashi-sensei, my mind only wandered –"

"And why is that? Here we all are discussing the case upon which Japan's future hangs, and you stand around neither paying attention nor deigning to speak with us. How dare you?"

"How, how dare I?" L struggled to think of what to say. "Well, we seem to have settled into an arrangement where Aiber speaks for the both of us –"

"And what have you done, boy? You're right enough to say he speaks for you – I can't even remember the last time you spoke more than a dozen words at a meeting. Do you have anything worthwhile to offer us at all? Aiber, it seems to me that I am subsidizing the cost of your employee more than I am paying for a second detective. I might ask the both of you why I am paying two salaries when it seems obvious I could get the same results at half the cost. I almost wonder if this boy isn't just some dupe you brought in off the streets in order to extort more money from us. That seems to be your sort of style."

L felt ready to explode. It didn't matter now that he could lose the biggest case of his career. It didn't matter that Ishibashi had the power to bury him if he wished. All that mattered was setting things straight once and for all, and showing Aiber that he could not undermine him any longer.

"I will thank you to refer to Aiber-san as my _partner_, not my employer, seeing as how we were hired jointly and are splitting the work between us." In fact, 90% of the work completed so far was L's, but he had no way of proving that just now. "Outside this case I have my own office and my own career, and I see no reason for me to be demeaned and denied the respect my position deserves."

Ishibashi looked appalled. "What a little cur it is. You'd do well not to speak to your superiors this way, boy."

"Superiors!"

"You may be too young to understand this" – there was a nasty sneer – "but here in Japan, a worker knows his place and treats those above him with the respect and dignity befitting their station. I would blame your foreign upbringing, yet Aiber-san has spent even less of his life here than you and never fails to stay polite and act as the situation dictates."

"_Don't_ compare me –"

"Whereas you, you little rat, have spent every moment in my presence disrespecting me and my party, being insolent to everyone around you and doing no discernible work at all!"

"Why, you –"

"Don't talk back to me –"

"You can't –"

"I have half a mind to remove you from the case here and now!"

"_You – !_" L sprang into attack position and made to leap over Ishibashi's desk to tear apart his ugly face, but Aiber grabbed him by the arm and wrenched him violently back; he fell sideways over the desk and found himself breathing in the dust on the carpet.

"Get – off – of me!" he yelled at Aiber, taking back his arm and returning to his feet. The eyes of Ishibashi, Aiber and Saionji were heavy upon him, and L felt his face flush with the shame of what had just happened. He strode from the room resisting the urge to hide his face. He thought he heard someone calling his name, but didn't stop to see who it was. His case…he had just lost the biggest case of his life, because he couldn't keep his fool mouth shut… Never had L been so humiliated, never…

He kept going and kept going. He was almost clear of the building now – he was at the atrium on the first floor, and the entrance stood almost directly opposite him.

"L! Wait a second…" called Aiber, his shoes clacking loudly on the tiles as he hurried to catch him up. L broke into a run, knowing he could outpace Aiber if he had to. He was nearing the doors…

"Security! We have an intruder in the building!" Aiber suddenly called, and before L could blink he was being tackled by about twenty huge men in navy uniforms. L landed very hard on the marble floor and found his hands roughly yanked behind his back, and he saw a flash of metal handcuffs –

"Get the fuck off me, you lunatics! I work here!" he screamed, and the man currently pinning him to the ground began fishing around in his pockets, looking for ID. When he found L's security pass and showed it to the rest, they let him up with an apology and some words to the effect of, "don't sue," but L barely heard them through the blood pounding in his ears. Aiber was leaning against a nearby pillar, smoking a cigarette – against the rules, but the guards who'd just attacked L ignored it – and watching the whole spectacle impassively.

"Sorry, gents," he called to the guards' retreating backs. "I didn't recognize him at first, he's a friend of my client's! We'll be fine now…"

L stomped up to him, face smudged with the dirt of both Ishibashi's office and the ground floor, sore in half a dozen places, wanting nothing more than to murder the man before him and wipe that little half-smirk off his face forever.

"You," he growled, as if the word were a curse. "You did this to me –"

"I'm sorry if I've hurt your pride, but I had to catch you before you ran away," said Aiber coolly, drawing himself up to his full height. "You didn't need to stomp out of there, we can still resolve this –"

"Shut up. I don't want any of your weasel words. I'm quitting this case before they fire me, and if you want to keep your face intact you'll stay out of my way. I'm going home."

"It doesn't have to be like this. You're a valuable part of the team, and Ishibashi knows it. Once he –"

"_Part of the team?_ ! I am the team! This is all your fault, Aiber! Ever since this case began you've been taking credit for my work, dismissing my credentials, undermining me in every –"

"Oh, so that's how you're going to be?" Aiber said loftily, but his face was a mask of anger. "I'd have thought you'd be more grateful, considering I just saved you from an assault charge by a man who could have you killed, if he saw fit. I've never seen anything so pathetic. Perhaps you really aren't cut out for the cases I give you – we both know you never could've –"

_WHAM!_

L screamed with blind rage as, for the second time that day, he lunged; this time his aim was true as his foot smashed into Aiber's jaw and earned an extremely satisfying howl of pain as Aiber staggered backwards. L turned around and stormed away, stealing a glance back at his foe to see the damage he'd done and half-wondering if Aiber would come after him. Aiber was clutching at his jaw and seemed too pained to consider chasing L, but his loud cursing followed L through the atrium and out the front doors.

Once L was home, his satisfaction at hurting Aiber dissipated, and with nothing to distract him now, he was left to his own misery. The Hayashi case had been the biggest of his career, and he had lost it. It was fine to blame Aiber and Ishibashi for provoking him, but in the end it was he himself who had lost control and tried to attack a client. He deserved to lose the case. He might, perhaps, have comforted himself with the notion that he could learn from the mistake, if it didn't seem so likely that he'd never get a case like this again. Now it seemed painfully obvious that Aiber had been right to say he'd never have gotten such a case on his own. If he forced a stop to his partnership with Aiber now, he would never get his foot in the door….Aiber had awakened his ambition and fanned it, and now that L had tasted high success, it seemed inconceivable that he could walk away. But the thought of continuing to work with Aiber was worse still, and the thought of having more clients like Ishibashi made him nauseous. No, surely that was a dead end now. He would continue as he had before Aiber, working on petty cases not worth his talent, knowing he could do better but unable to get the clients, avoiding Aiber like a scared mouse, drowning his shame in sugar…

How had his future suddenly come to seem so dim?

* * *

><p>Somehow, Aiber did patch things up enough with Ishibashi to let L return to the case, though with reduced compensation. L couldn't understand how Aiber could manage such a feat, yet Aiber claimed it was just a matter of inventing a credible cover story and pulling off a decent acting job. In this case, Aiber had somehow passed off L's eruption as the result of overwork and a lack of sleep.<p>

"Of course they'd buy that, you look as if you haven't slept in ten years. I really played up your dedication and skills, you know, and soon I had them back at the table to re-hire you. It's just a matter of knowing how to play people."

Now that L had been so humbled, Aiber seemed to have forgotten his ire, and was in fact going out of his way to comfort L in his misery. He seemed to think that everything he'd said to L at the start of the case had been entirely confirmed by what had happened, even though it had been he more than anyone who had led L to his humiliation. He now seemed to take it for granted that L would let him have his way without protest.

He was almost right. L could barely even summon the energy to be mad at him now. Certainly he was in no mood to fight. L's shame at what had happened, and Aiber's skillful actions to save the case, had noticeably shifted the balance of power towards Aiber, and every moment that L spent in his presence was a moment he felt his humiliation threaten to overwhelm him. The wound would not be fresh forever, L knew. Eventually, he hoped, relations between him and Aiber would regain their old uneasy equilibrium. But in the meantime, he felt weak to Aiber's machinations, imagining himself as a besieged city that has run out food and drink and is soon to be breached. Indeed, L had found that Aiber was using his new power not so much to torment L as to sneak closer to him, to push aside forever the barriers that L had always thrown up between them but could not now maintain. Aiber's treatment of him was noticeably gentler now, a charm offensive obviously meant to bring them closer together. He brought L sweets that he knew L favoured, offered to take on some of the grunt-work of the case that L disliked doing, spoke more softly and teased L less. He claimed that he felt bad about what had happened and wanted to make it up to L, and while L knew better than to believe that, the lie still helped to salve his wounds. It all seemed so unfair – it was Aiber more than anyone who had contributed to his downfall, and the person who had benefitted the most from it was Aiber. And yet L couldn't help but be somewhat comforted by the small kindnesses Aiber now showed him. People were simple creatures really, and both feelings and memories were always dominated by recent events. Without new fuel to fan the flames of L's hatred, the feeling had inevitably begun to dim.

The same could not be said where Ishibashi was concerned. Since the incident in his office, Ishibashi seemed to make it his private mission to make L's life as miserable as possible. Aiber generally made reports on his own these days, but on the occasions when L and Ishibashi did meet, the man always seemed to know just what to say to salt L's wound. He pored over L and Aiber's expenses and found ways to take money out of L's already-reduced fee; L began to wonder if he might eventually wind up paying _Ishibashi_ to work for him, if the case dragged on long enough. He withheld information he considered "sensitive" from L, as if he thought L might spill party secrets to political rivals or the press. L began wondering if Ishibashi was even scaring away his business, after two new clients mysteriously cancelled their contracts without warning.

_Never run afoul of a politician_, he thought. _One thing's for sure, I'll never work with them again…_

Meetings between L and Ishibashi failed to maintain even a veneer of civility, and Ishibashi let it be known that the only reason he had maintained L was because Aiber had insisted on his skill and threatened to quit if L were let go. And since Aiber had done such _good work_ so far…

L, in turn, let it be known that he hoped every tooth rotted out of Ishibashi's head.

"Well, that was tactless," said Aiber, as they left the stink of Ishibashi's presence and headed towards the elevators afterwards.

"He's a malignant tumour of a man, and I have no interest in sucking up to him."

"He's still our boss, and it'll hurt us both if you continue to act that way around him."

"What would you have me do?" said L, pausing where he stood and looking into Aiber's face. "How else could I react when he degrades my skills, my appearance, my _life_, and plunders my fee? Do you think I should just take it?"

"Yes, I do. You need to learn to place professionalism over hurt feelings. As for your fee, I'll chip in myself once the case is over, and you'll still come out ahead in the end, once you factor in the new cases you'll get after this. As for Ishibashi….Honestly, he doesn't really bother me. I know his type, and I know how to appease people like him. You could, too. You've spent your whole life 'til now studying things instead of people….Don't you think it's time for a change? You've got the skills of a detective, now you need the skills of human being. Aside from anything else, it would help you to manage creeps like him."

"Even if I tried, you would always be there to undermine my every move," L muttered. "We both know you are never content unless you are forcing me to eat your of your hand."

"Then fight back," said Aiber softly. "If the people around you play dirty, beat 'em at their own game. Come on, L. I know you're smart enough. You could run circles around me if you tried."

L shook his head hopelessly. "No, I…can't. I'm just not….Facts are what I'm good at, Aiber. Logic, reasoning, certainties. I can't play that sort of manipulation game with people, I just don't have it in me."

"Well…" said Aiber, considering this. "On the bright side, I _do_ have that skill. If you would only stop fighting me so hard, you would find me far less unpleasant, you know. Has it ever occurred to you that it makes sense to let clients imagine I am the lead detective, and just let me handle them? That way, they feel certain the case is in capable hands, and are willing to both trust more and pay more. What they think doesn't matter, L. We both understand that you're the superior detective here. I've found that I like the business of investigative work, and I have every intention of continuing with it, but when it comes to you, I'll be content to learn and let you do the heavy lifting. Let me handle the business side of things so you can go about your work in peace. We'll always split the money fifty/fifty. Just let me help you out, and you'll never have to think about business or fees or marketing ever again. We work well together, L – I wasn't lying when I said we complement each other."

Aiber laid a hand on L's shoulder, and when L looked up he saw, not for the first time, a gleam in the man's eye that he couldn't quite place.

"And just what does that mean? You find the cases, alright. But what about after that? I perform the work, you sit on your ass and figure out new and exciting ways to torture me?"

"No. We divvy up the work. You direct the course of the investigation, I do whatever grunt-work needs doing, handle the clients and, in my spare time, search out new cases for us to take. It can work, L," said Aiber, laying hands on both his shoulders now, leaning closer. "It will."

Aiber didn't seem as deliberately charming, as polished as he normally did. What L was looking at now, or so it seemed, was the very rare sight of Aiber attempting to be honest. And while L understood that this glimpse of honesty was as much a manipulation as anything Aiber had ever done, he couldn't find it in him now to reject his plan outright.

"You will never refer to me as Junior Detective again, are we clear?"

"How about 'assistant'?"

L dearly wanted to hit him.

"There's only so much I can stand of your company, you know," said L. "I'll only agree if you promise to limit our shared caseload to one a month. Anything more than that I will refuse, citing overwork. This may surprise you to learn, Aiber, but I need sanity and peace of mind much more than I need prestige or money."

"Done. It may even be less than that, considering that I still have my own business affairs –"

"Your cons," L muttered.

"– to attend to, and my own cases, too. It was never my intention to smother you, L…" Suddenly Aiber's hand alighted in L's hair, stroking softly. L pulled back a little, but didn't bother shaking it off. "This may surprise _you_ to hear, but I like your fire, L, and I have no desire to break you. I prefer you wild and untamed, unpredictable and always," – he grasped L's arm to draw him in closer – "always… _fascinating_." There was an odd tone in Aiber's voice, a reverence mixed with…something else. He was looking L deeply in the eyes, leaning in close. Such closeness made L uncomfortable in a way he couldn't quite explain, but he found it in himself to not recoil, to stare right back with only his racing heartbeat to give him away.

"I'll never understand you," he murmured. "Not at all. I'll think about what you've said, and give you my final answer in a few days. In the meantime, I ask that you not harass me about it and let me get on with my work."

Aiber leaned back a little, as if he knew that he could not push L any further just now. He got up to leave, only taking a moment to cup L's jaw and brush a thumb over his cheek before saying softly, "I'll talk to you then." And then he was gone.

L thought it was almost inevitable that he would accept Aiber's proposal, and he had a feeling that Aiber thought so, too. Surely, if he did not feel so secure about his power over L, he would not use such a gentle touch. L certainly feared allowing Aiber to gain too much of a hold over him, but he maintained some hope that he could keep things from going too far. One case a month was not a great deal, and so long as Aiber allowed him to control the investigation, the arrangement was probably workable. In a way, it was actually quite satisfying, the thought of finally being able to work out The Aiber Problem in a way that could advance his career without forcing him to endure constant mischief. For the first time in weeks, the tension within him seemed to dissipate, and in its place came a relief so strong it was almost a euphoria.

There was also a subtle heat coursing through L's body, which he could not explain.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I still can't believe that my one long story features AiberxL, as opposed to my One True Pairing, LxLightxL. Maybe it's because I feel I can take L and Light's relationship almost for granted, whereas I feel that a relationship between L and Aiber, especially in this universe, needs a bit more explaining.

I did actually make an effort to insure that this story is in line with how uberneko-zero describes L and Aiber's past. L tells Aiber in Germany to either get another detective or become one himself; he tries to attack an asshole client and then kicks Aiber in the jaw. I had a wonderful time fleshing all that out and incorporating it into my story. Oh, and uh, I take full credit for the term "OL-san." My dream is to see that spread around the fandom XD

I don't approve of the use of the word "retard," just so you know. I had Ishibashi use it, as well as "feeble" as in feeble-minded, mainly to show what an incredible asshole Ishibashi is, just as I made him a huge xenophobe. I don't think his xenophobia is so greatly exaggerated, actually – having been a foreigner in Korea, which is in many ways similar to Japan, I can tell you there's definitely prejudice floating around. As for Ishibashi…his political family is actually inspired by the Hatoyama family of Japan, which has already sired two prime ministers (Hatoyama Ichiro and Hatoyama Yukio) and has had a number of other family members deeply involved in politics. I have absolutely nothing against the Hatoyamas – I just wanted to make Ishibashi more threatening, and that seemed like a good way to do it.

I wasn't quite sure what honorific people would generally use to address a Japanese politician. –sama? –sensei? Just –san? I went with sensei, and a very quick Google search seems to confirm that this is alright, but if you know better, I'd definitely appreciate it if you let me know.

I love reviews, so if you enjoyed this chapter or the story in general so far, I want to hear from you! Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you again next chapter!


	4. Chapter Three: Heat

Chapter Three: **Heat**

In the end, they discovered that it was Sanjo Reijiro, a political rival of Hayashi's, that had discovered and leaked the sensitive information, and that he furthermore had not stayed strictly within the law to do so. It was a scandal such as Japan had not seen in years.

For L, it was a surreal feeling to watch the news programs blare the story and know that it was his doing. Neither his name nor Aiber's was a part of the news stories, and no one would know L's face if they knocked him over in the street, but nonetheless, everybody in Japan knew what he had done. In the wake of the Hayashi-Sanjo scandal there were large public protests – a rarity – calls for reform, for less muck-raking in politics, for the resignations of seemingly everyone Sanjo or Hayashi had ever known….L had seen the protesters once or twice on the streets while driving around town with Aiber. And whenever L went out for sweets or coffee or tea, inevitably the scandal was on the patrons' lips.

Aiber was ecstatic about the whole thing. He boasted openly about having had a glass of wine thrown in his face at a society party, and he would watch the TV stories with a grin on his face.

"All due to you, kid. No one could have done it better," he said, squeezing L's shoulder from behind as they both watched the latest developments on the 10 o'clock news. L knew it was so, and hearing the wonderful truth echoed by his arrogant partner actually made him smile a bit.

L was now being inundated with requests from other politicians and their friends, people who wanted him to dig up dirt on their own rivals. Some seemed wary of him – those, L deemed, were the ones with the most to hide, and he made a mental note to watch them extra carefully in the future. Others seemed to positively salivate over him, viewing him as a sort of trump card with which to secure their own political futures. Still others came wanting him to conduct stake-outs on unfaithful spouses, find lost documents, and other tasks with which L had great experience. Yet L – to Aiber's horror – turned all these clients down, and no matter how much Aiber sought to manipulate him back to the table, L refused to relent.

"Perhaps you want to be the politicians' darling, but I don't. If I sought to uncover all their secrets, there'd be no one left in politics by the time I finished. Besides, it'd be dangerous to get involved with all the rival factions at once. I, and the things I'd uncover, would soon become a liability to them all. You take some of the cases yourself if you want them, but I won't do it. We've had plenty of other offers since this case, of far greater interest to me."

Somewhat to his surprise, Aiber gave in without too much of a fight, perhaps because he knew that L was right in saying that they had no shortage of interesting offers. He seemed to want to stay on L's good side – as much as was possible, anyway – and instead pushed for them to take a case involving artifacts stolen from the Tokyo National Museum. It was a high-profile and potentially high-paying case, yet it was also non-political, and thus appeased both L and Aiber. It was also likely to be interesting work, with members of the yakuza being under high suspicion of being the perpetrators. In the end, the case was solved rather too quickly and easily for L's liking, but they were paid very handsomely, and as they rode that success, they were soon embroiled in yet another excellent case, and another after that. Aiber definitely had a knack for sniffing out the most interesting and lucrative jobs. L certainly didn't mind the extra money, and that, plus the fact that Aiber always paid for his sweets when they were together, almost made the time spent with him bearable. The man seemed to have finally realized that L was more likely to stick around if he were not being mocked and teased mercilessly. L also mostly trusted Aiber not to steal from him, since that would mean the end of what was fast becoming a very fruitful source of income, and perhaps the only honest income Aiber had.

As the months went by, Aiber slowly improved at his new line of work. He only rarely made big mistakes now, and once or twice his suggestions had actually improved on L's brainstorming.

"That's…that's smart. I would never have thought of that," L said once, rather shell-shocked, as he sat facing his computer with Aiber leaning over his shoulder. "I'd really rather not say this, but…thank you, Aiber."

"Think nothing of it," Aiber said softly, raking a hand from the nape of L's neck down his back. L rolled his shoulders to shove him off, and was glad that Aiber couldn't see him flush red.

True to his word, Aiber mostly supervised the business side of their cases these days and left L in charge of the investigation, except when he felt particularly meddlesome or wanted to torment L. He always insisted on having a celebration dinner once a case was over, and L felt he got some of his own back by insisting on high-end restaurants with ridiculous prices, at which he would obnoxiously order all the most expensive things on the menu, knowing that Aiber would pick up the tab. He rarely even ate the stuff, except for the sweets, which he devoured in droves (over Aiber's professed amazement that he hadn't yet ballooned to 300 pounds). And despite his enduring dislike of Aiber, L found that he could no longer summon the same force of hatred against him anymore. Somehow they had found a rhythm, a mode of collaboration that seemed to work for both of them. The predictability of their partnership also made Aiber seem less threatening. Their dinners always ended the same way, with Aiber ordering a glass of red wine for the both of them. Often he tried to get L to stay longer and have another glass or two, but L always left before being in the man's presence became too unbearable. At least, he always went home with a satisfied stomach.

* * *

><p>"Happy Birthday, L. If we ever work in America now, I'll be able to buy you a drink."<p>

It was L's 21st birthday, and the two of them were sitting in some restaurant the name of which he hadn't bothered to read. Their latest case had ended almost a week ago, but Aiber had insisted on postponing the usual dinner so that they could have a double celebration on L's birthday. Now a waitress stood before them with an enormous cake on a tray, cutting L a thick slice and telling them to wave her down if they wanted more. L immediately took his fork in hand and became to consume.

It was an incredible triple-chocolate cake. A double-thick coat of rich icing surrounded an exceptionally dense and moist piece of work, with a sumptuous, fudgy filling between the layers, and a taste as sweet as sugar itself. L almost forgot that Aiber was there, so focused was he on the ecstasy of consuming that chocolate ambrosia.

After a minute or two, he became aware of Aiber watching him with an odd intensity in his gaze.

"What?" said L irritably, with his mouth half full of cake.

"I'm just glad you're enjoying it so much," said Aiber softly. "Perhaps I should buy you cake more often."

"If it's this cake, you're more than welcome," L said heartily, and dove in once again. Aiber called for wine, not for two glasses as he usually did, but for an entire bottle.

"It's your birthday," he said to L's surprised look. "Do you really want to spend it wasting away in front of your computer at home?"

"It's hardly a waste of time, Aiber. I'm working. It's my livelihood – some of us do come by our income honestly, you know."

"I know. But what _normal_ person brushes off the only other person willing to celebrate with him, and retreats to his bedroom to stare at a screen all night? It's not healthy. You see them?" Aiber directed his attention to a table across the way, where a young woman was being sung "Happy Birthday" by a large group of people gathered around her, who were obviously her family. "That's what a person ought to do on their birthday: have some fun with the people they're close to, and let loose. Come on, I promise you that the more you drink, the more bearable my company will become."

Aiber had purposely hit him where it hurt, L knew. For all of his accomplishments, L was still highly uncomfortable with the thought of being a social outcast, a freak at whom others laughed. Aiber was playing on his perception of what _normal_ people did to try and dictate his behaviour. Sadly, it was working. The prospect of going home to his laptop, which usually seemed so comforting, now seemed sad in some indefinable way. Watari would give him another very good cake, L knew, but that was traditionally the whole extent of L's birthday celebrations. Why not do things a little differently this year? The glum notion that he had no one to spend his birthday with but Aiber would be offset by the fact that he was venturing outside his shell for once – and the wine would probably help, too.

So the evening wore on, as the wine slowly disappeared and L found, in his relaxed state, that he almost didn't mind spending time with Aiber. The man was an asshole, as always, but under the influence of alcohol he seemed less aggressive, and less prone to confusing mind games. Or maybe he just seemed more agreeable to L now. In any case, for the first time in who-knew-how-long, L found himself in a real conversation with someone who wasn't Watari. Perhaps it wasn't much of a birthday present, considering that that was something most people had every day, but for him it was a great relief and a welcome change to really speak to someone, and know that he was still able. It was turning out to be the nicest birthday he'd had in years.

The seating at the restaurant was somewhat odd, L thought. While many restaurants provided separate booths for every table, this one provided only quarter-booths: long high-backed sofas that lined one side of the table while the other sides stood out in the open and were provided with wooden chairs. Upon their arrival, Aiber had allowed L the couch seat and had slid into the chair opposite him. But now Aiber stood and ventured into the "booth" to sit beside him. L shifted over to give him more room, but naturally Aiber enjoyed making him uncomfortable too much to allow that, and shifted closer to him again.

"I've tried to give you a good birthday," he said softly, leaning over L. "I do wonder if there's anything more I can do…"

"Not that I know of. Not that I know why you cared to do even this much, though."

"There's been something on my mind, L. Naturally I want you to have a good time because you're my friend…"

"Hmph."

"Yes, you are. And I think that if you really hated me as much as you claim to, you would never have hung around this long tonight. Anyway, I do want you to have a good time and have fun…" He lowered his voice now, and leaned closer still. "But lately I've been wondering if we might have some fun together, too."

"Aiber, what –?"

Aiber was slowly leaning in, and his face was coming so close to L's that he had to cross his eyes to keep it in focus. There was that strange heat again coursing through him, and a feel of indefinable anticipation was upon him, though he hardly knew why. Aiber's mouth was on an achingly slow collision course with his…

"Wait a second, Aiber – !" he said weakly.

"L," whispered Aiber, and something in his voice made L shiver as Aiber leaned down to press their lips together. Gentle, soft, hot…L's mind was full of sensation as Aiber took his mouth. Heat was thrumming through his body now, and it all seemed to concentrate on the area between his legs. The press of his jeans against his burgeoning erection made him whimper, and the sound of his own voice so soft and vulnerable made him even harder. Aiber's lips moved gently against his, and he did not breach L's mouth, although his tongue poked out to slide enticingly over L's bottom lip. Eventually he settled into a slow rhythm of lips and tongue, and L found himself wanting to move to that rhythm, found himself trembling with the desire to feel more of that mouth, more of this soft rhythm, more…

Aiber gently broke the kiss and pulled back slowly, just far enough so that he could look at L's face and see his eyes. L was still shaking all over, though for what reason he wasn't sure. It wasn't completely unexpected, he thought. It had occurred to him once or twice that Aiber's interest in him might be more than the lure of money and cheap entertainment, but he had always dismissed such notions as the product of his own social cluelessness. Surely it was insane to think that a man like Aiber would feel anything but repulsion at the thought of bedding L, so skinny and pale and shabbily-dressed. Aiber had always struck him as straight, anyway. Yet now…

"I had hoped to give that to you on your birthday," said Aiber huskily. "I've been thinking about it. I've been thinking about you, L…"

"W-w-what?" L squeaked, eyes wide as saucers.

_He couldn't have…he didn't just…what the hell do I do now? ?_

"Aiber, I…" he began, not knowing what he was going to say. That heat was still rushing through his body, distracting and unnerving him. And Aiber's eyes were heavy upon him as he waited for L to speak, and L stayed silent.

"It's been on my mind for a while now," Aiber finally said, laying a hand upon L's knee and gently stroking it, in a movement that seemed to tingle through him. "You don't know how you affect me…"

"…Affect you? ? Just how long have you – ?"

"Always. Since the first day I saw you."

L wondered if he actually might faint. There was a first time for everything, he supposed, and at this point, it might actually be a relief. His mind was in a whirl. Just as the enormity of Aiber's confession crashed down upon him, so too did a flood of memories, clarifying and illuminating what L had been too stupid to see before.

He saw again Saionji's jealous eyes shifting between them. He again heard Ishibashi jokingly tell Aiber not to seduce _pretty OL-san_. He felt Aiber's fingers skimming lightly over his arms and back or threading through his hair, time and time again.

"_I prefer you wild and untamed, unpredictable and always, always…_fascinating_."_

It all seemed so _obvious_ now. From day one, Aiber had fished for ways to get close to him, excuses to lay hands on him. And it had all now led to _this_?

Even Ishibashi had known, the son of a bitch! And if anything could make L angry, it was the thought of anything to do with Ishibashi. Shame filled him as he realized that even that scum had understood what he had not, and had mocked him in front of everybody; hatred for Ishibashi coursed afresh through his veins, but even more so for Aiber…

Had other clients ever noticed? Had they laughed at L behind his back, assuming that he was Aiber's little fucktoy?

Now L seemed to see Aiber more clearly than he ever had before. His smirks showed him at his most honest. His kindnesses seemed so transparent now. To think that he had puppeted L for years, yes, for nearly two years now, all the time with the ultimate goal of fucking him. The scope of the deception was just too much…

"I've always wanted you, L….I couldn't hold back any longer….I wanted to taste you…"

And suddenly L seemed to regain his self-control.

"Stop! I don't want to hear another word out of your degenerate mouth. How dare you assault me like that? !"

"Well, you didn't exactly fight me off."

"Shock is not consent."

"Nonetheless, L, I saw no _serious_ resistance from you. I even fancy I felt you kiss back a little. That wasn't half bad, you know, for a first kiss. You've certainly got potential."

_Potential?_ Did that mean the kiss was unsatisfactory? And why would L care about that, anyway? ?

"…How are you so sure it was my first?" was all L's paralyzed brain could muster in response to that.

"Don't make me laugh. You couldn't have looked more shocked if I'd whipped out my cock here and now."

"_Don't be disgusting!_" Just as L, livid, stood and turned on his heel to storm out of the restaurant, Aiber grabbed him by the arm and held on with a grip of iron. He yanked L forcibly back to him and then hugged him from behind, pinning one arm to his chest and the other behind his back to that it lay trapped between their bodies. His breath was hot on L's ear and neck.

"I didn't mean to alienate you," Aiber said in an entirely different tone, the kind he used on the people he swindled in order to charm them into trusting him. "I'm sorry. I've been thinking about this, working up to this moment for a while now, and now I've gone and made a complete ass of myself. That's not what I meant to do."

"I don't care what you _meant_. Get the hell off me!" said L, trying to buck Aiber off and regain the use of his arms.

"Don't make a scene!" Aiber hissed, holding him yet more tightly against his body. "Do you really want the eyes of the whole restaurant on you as they eject us both out the front doors? !"

L was silent, his body rigid in Aiber's arms.

"…Then for God's sake calm down and stop acting like a maniac."

How was it that Aiber could make it sound like _L_ was the one at fault here? It made his head spin. Nonetheless, after wrenching his arms back from Aiber's vice-grip, he sank slowly into his seat with his face in his hands. Aiber sat back down beside him, but less oppressively close than before.

"Don't go until you've heard me out, please," he said, as a hand landed gently on L's head to smooth through his hair. L jerked his head, but didn't bother swatting it away.

"Happy Birthday, indeed," he muttered, not listening to Aiber. "I should've known that what you wanted was a present for yourself!"

"Now, that's not true. We were having a good time together, weren't we? I was hoping that we could continue having a good time. We've been working in such close quarters lately…We've been spending so much time together…"

"I always knew there was something off about you…" said L into his hands. "The way you look at me sometimes, the way you've always pushed for greater closeness between us….But I didn't think that you would…that you could…"

"Christ, L, you make me sound like an axe murderer! All I wanted was a kiss."

"You want a hell of a lot more than that," L said, looking up.

"So what if I do? When did sex become a crime? Lord knows you could use a good fuck."

Now _that_ was hitting below the belt. Aiber sensed his insecurity, and wanted to appeal once again to his sense of embarrassment and guilt at not being like other people; he wanted to stoke L's shame about his virginity, with the idea that this would make him easier prey.

"I will thank you not to pass judgement on my personal life, about which you know less than nothing," he said through gritted teeth.

"Personal life, what _personal life_? You spend every waking moment at the computer. You have no friends, no human connections to speak of except Watari and myself. You need to get out and enjoy life, L. Have some fun. Do you want to stay a virgin forever?...It would be a shame," he added, smoothing a hand down L's arm as his eyes devoured him, "to let someone like you stay untouched."

"I feel no attraction to you whatsoever."

"Don't lie," Aiber hissed. "That's the coward's way out. I've felt you react to me, L. I felt it just now. You hate it when strangers bump you, and you've never even learned to hug Watari without it being awkward, yet you've never told me off for touching you, L. Not once. I've felt you trembling under my hands, and you've allowed it. I pay your way whenever we're together, and you've allowed that, too."

"Now that I think of it, that is rather ironic, considering how much I hate you."

Real upset flashed on Aiber's face now.

"That's out of line. All I've done tonight is try and show you a good time –"

"_Show me a good time_, is that what they're calling it these days?" L sneered. "You make me sick. I should've known better than to think I could collaborate with you."

"I should've known better than to think you might handle like this an _adult_," Aiber threw back. "I'm not going to waste my time tonight hearing your excuses and denials. If this is how you're going to be, then I'm going to return home." He stood, and rapidly gathered up his things. "I have nothing more to say to you. I hope you have a _happy birthday_ –" his sneering tone made it clear he wished L anything but that – "and I will speak with you again when you're ready to be reasonable. Good night!"

He threw some bills on the table and made to leave, but before he reached the door, he stopped abruptly, and a after a moment's pause turned to face L once more. L waited for the parting shot.

"I know you feel the heat between us, L," Aiber eventually said, in a more temperate tone than before. "If you're not willing to face it yet, I'm willing to wait until you are. But L…I won't wait forever."

And he made his exit rather huffily, making it clear just how unreasonable L was being for daring to put up a fight. L began collecting his own things as he prepared to leave, making sure to take as much time as possible and minimize the danger of running into Aiber outside. He took the bills in hand to count out the proper amount, and found, to his surprise, that Aiber had left not only enough to cover the bill, but roughly ¥100 000 extra, too. Was it meant for him, as a birthday gift, perhaps? L furrowed his brow. It was very possible that Aiber had simply not been paying attention to the amount he left, but L sensed that this was not so. The one thing Aiber was never careless about was money. Nonetheless, L decided to hold onto the bills until he had a chance to confirm Aiber's intention. His stomach dropped at the idea of having to talk to Aiber again, but whether purposely or not, Aiber had just set things up so that avoiding him was not an option. Considering what Aiber wanted from him, L felt highly uncomfortable at the idea of taking money from him, wondering wildly if Aiber considered it some form of payment for future favours. Well, if Aiber felt cheated later on and demanded it back, L would gladly give it. Certainly, nothing was ever going to happen between them. It was _Aiber_, for God's sake!

But why, _why_ did he have to become aroused just then? He'd never thought of Aiber that way, or even liked him….Yet even now, the memory of that kiss was all it took to spark a soft tingling within him.

Admittedly, it had been a while since he'd really felt aroused, or taken care of himself with his hand. Maybe that was the whole problem.

_Perhaps I should start paying more attention to the needs of my body. Otherwise, it may just get so that it will take stimulation from any source. And if Aiber's so determined to get his way, I'll have to be on my guard. It'll be much easier to keep the proper distance if I'm not feeling sexually frustrated._

But a part of L wondered if it were possible to stop feeling sexually frustrated…unless he had sex.

* * *

><p>A week or two later, a message appeared in his inbox detailing a new case Aiber had secured for them. L very much wanted to refuse, but it was clear that the case was already in motion, and L did not have it in him to call the clients and tell them he was cancelling the deal for no particular reason. He hated making phone calls at the best of times, and knew he would not be able to deal with the intrusive questions fired at him by an angry stranger. So he reluctantly messaged Aiber and indicated his intention to take on the case, as well as his intention to stay as far away from Aiber as possible while it lasted. Aiber sent back a very long message, detailing all the specious reasons why they should work face-to-face, and asking for what he called "an apology dinner," which L roundly turned down. Aiber didn't ask for the money back, though L was itching to return it, wanting nothing more than to rid himself of the insidious sense of obligation he felt because of it.<p>

After the initial message, Aiber was quiet for a while, communicating only as much as their work dictated. L began to hope that the situation had been resolved, yet he never forgot Aiber's talent for trickery and deception. And then, right at the end of the case, the ball dropped. Aiber suggested to the clients that they all go out to dinner together. The proposal was eagerly accepted, and L could think of no good excuse for refusing, and so it was that he found himself at a mediocre Chinese restaurant one evening, being plied with drinks and pork rolls, and hating life more and more as the charade continued through the evening. As the party progressed and the clients became more and more drunk, they began to ignore L and Aiber in favour of carousing around with each other. From all the backslapping and slurred toasts being made, one would have thought they'd done all the work themselves. Aiber left them to it, levelling a very intense stare at L from across the table, and trying numerous ploys to get L to leave the group and speak with him. Eventually, the fog of alcohol in L's brain became such that he had to leave the table for a while and refresh himself in the dingy bathroom. Every few seconds or so he peeked out the bathroom door to check if Aiber had followed him, but for the moment, the coast was clear. He was just about to make his way back to the party when he saw Aiber excuse himself from the table and begin to head in the direction of the bathroom; L, eyes widening, quickly dodged into the kitchen to hide.

"We don't care if your girlfriend's a bitch, sweetheart, you can't stay in here," said a woman who was sautéing something close by the place where L crouched pathetically. L slowly stood, and looked out the porthole at the door to check if Aiber were outside. Seeing no sign of him, L slipped out of the kitchen once more and tried the other doors in the back hallway. The first one was locked, but the second actually gave way, and soon L found himself in a dark storeroom full of canned food, old pots and broken appliances. He shut the door and stood silent for a moment, hearing his every breath loud in his ears, the sounds of mice darting across the room, and the vague noises of the restaurant patrons outside.

"L? L, where are you?" Aiber's voice drifted in from the hall. L prayed that he would not try the storeroom doors, but to his dismay he heard Aiber try the knob to the first storeroom, and then march over to the door behind which L stood. The knob turned, and suddenly Aiber's silhouette appeared in the doorway, seeming larger and more intimidating than ever before. L could barely see his face, but from what he could tell, the man's expression seemed both wrathful and a bit surprised, as if he had not expected to actually see L in such a pitiful position.

"Stay away from me, Aiber," said L, holding up a hand to shield his eyes and taking a step back into the room.

"Come on, L, this is ridiculous. Do you realize you're hiding out in the storeroom of a restaurant like a scared child? This isn't you. Show a little backbone, why don't you? Realize that you can't avoid this forever, and come with me so that we can talk like mature adults."

Now that stung. Aiber knew he was embarrassed about his lack of worldly experience and the age gap between them, and was using that to control him once again. Nonetheless, as the idiocy of his position truly came home to him – hiding out back here, drunk and shame-faced, and nonetheless humiliated in front of the very person he'd tried to avoid – he hung his head.

"I'll come back to the table with you, but nowhere private," he said softly. "I have no stomach just now for your insults and attempts to grab at me."

"Oh, grow up. It was only a kiss. That's not grabbing, that's making a move. If you had any experience at all, you would know that."

How could he twist everything around to make it L's fault? ? L felt his face heating up with shame and anger (and alcohol) as he struggled to process Aiber's words and counter them.

"I've tried to call you, but Watari won't patch me through," Aiber said, before L could think of a response. "I've repeatedly asked to meet you and talk about this, but you've refused. I had to arrange this whole party just to speak with you! And now I find you hiding out back here to avoid me. It's pathetic."

"That was a dirty trick you pulled on me," L said suddenly. "You'd never mentioned any sort of _interest_ in me that way before, and suddenly you _made your move_ out of the blue and without my consent, but not before plying me with alcohol. That's low, Aiber, even for you."

"Out of the blue, really? You can't possibly be that stupid. For months – no, for over a goddamn year now – you've let me take you out to dinner and wine. Many a time I've laid my hands on you without a goddamn word of complaint from you. We've spent so much time alone together, worked together so closely….Anyone would've known where things were going."

L was fairly certain that Aiber had known how oblivious he'd been, no matter how stupid L had been for not seeing it. Like a frog in slowly heating water, he hadn't paid any attention to what was happening until it was far too late. How could he fix this situation now? ? The idea of letting Aiber have his way was preposterous, and yet L was too deeply involved now to let Aiber go without it significantly harming his business, and perhaps his career itself.

"You've taken advantage of me. You've manipulated me. Now why the hell should I allow that to continue?"

"Because you want me, too."

L looked up, eyes wide with a sudden, blinding anger, as well as fear.

"Don't you _dare_ presume to know what I want –"

"I know it. I've felt you shiver when I touch you, I've seen you flush red when I come close to you. Perhaps you didn't recognise the signs, but I did. Deep down, we both want the same thing…"

"Well, wouldn't that be the first time we've had anything in common," L muttered.

"Maybe," said Aiber, with the faint shadow of a smile on his face. "Then again, I know we both love the thrill of the chase and of conquest, you for your cases and I for my business ventures. We both love a bit of danger and risk. We don't try to curtail our own egos."

L said nothing, quite unsure of how to respond to this.

"I say it's natural that we'd come to want one another. Who else is there?"

Aiber was coming closer now, and while L badly wanted to flee, Aiber stood between him and the door, and L could not see himself trying to dodge around Aiber like a child playing tag. He wanted to tell Aiber to stay where he was, but somehow the words just weren't coming.

Aiber was so close now that his cologne was overwhelming L's senses. Aiber cupped his cheek, and L could not find the strength of will to push him back, though he was shaking and he turned his face away.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" he whispered.

"I can't," Aiber whispered back. "It's too late for that now….You know it is…"

He ran his thumb gently over L's lower lip, sensitizing it. L meekly shook his head and closed his eyes, but the hand refused to go away, and he could feel Aiber's breath close to his face now. He did not dare look then, couldn't bear to see Aiber's icy stare boring into him at such close range. Aiber's other hand settled on the juncture of L's neck and shoulder and began a soothing massage. It was warm, and L couldn't help but relax a bit under it. And then he felt breath on his neck, and a very soft pressure on his jawline where Aiber kissed it. At that moment – he couldn't help it – he let out a soft noise of what might have been pleasure. "_There_," said Aiber huskily, and something in his voice rendered L pliant as Aiber took him in his arms and brought their lips together.

Much like the first time, Aiber took it slow, softly teasing their lips together before sealing them more firmly. Now L felt a devilish tongue running delicately over his bottom lip, and he felt himself shudder in reaction. He didn't join in, but nor did he attempt to keep Aiber from breaching his mouth. That hot tongue penetrated him now in a slow rhythm, in and out, in and out, and L felt his body slowly rocking back and forth with the motion. Aiber's hand was cupping his jaw and his thumb was rubbing L's flushed cheek. Down below, L suddenly felt a bit of cool wetness against the tip of his length, and realized that it was a bead of precome that had burst against the fabric of his underwear and jeans. The slickness of the precome made the rocking motion still more pleasurable, and L whimpered into Aiber's mouth, Aiber answering with a low moan of a his own. His other hand caressed the bare skin of L's shoulder and neck. L could feel his pulse quicken under Aiber's hands, his body awash in a sea of new and pleasurable sensations. Somewhere along the line, Aiber's hand left his neck and was replaced by his mouth, sucking at the pulse-point, kissing tenderly at his skin.

There was a feather-soft pressure on his crotch, and after a moment L realized that it was not just his pants rubbing against him, but a touch of gentle fingers. He arched into that touch before he could think about it, and a small cry of arousal left his lips. Aiber moaned as he suckled the soft skin where L's neck and shoulder met, and increased the pressure on L's most tender parts, his free hand skimming down L's arm and beginning to sneak up under his shirt. L didn't even register the motion as anything except _pleasure_ until he felt something softly touch his nipple.

He had a sudden vision of Aiber finishing him off right here in the storeroom, one hand down L's pants and the other up his shirt to pinch and caress at his nipples while he leaned on Aiber and moaned. The blood rushed up to his face and down to other parts of him at the mere thought of it. But it obviously could not happen, even if L were persuaded to allow such a scandal: the restaurant was not empty, and even though he and Aiber stood hidden in a back room, there was little chance they could get away with it. The door stood wide open now, and could not be locked without a key. L cursed himself for even contemplating the thing. _Our clients are here!_ he thought. But the idea of it – even the possibility of getting caught, of allowing the other patrons to overhear his cries and moans – somehow sent his body into overdrive.

"God, L…" said Aiber huskily. "Let's get out of here, go find a room somewhere…I want to have you," he whispered.

The fog in L's brain finally seemed to clear a little, and while he was still absurdly aroused, he suddenly felt strong enough to put an end to this.

"No," he said, shaking his head and drawing away.

Aiber's face was distinctly red, and L wasn't sure if that was from arousal, or anger, or both.

"Don't try to back out now…You can't possibly claim to not want me, after this…"

"I claim nothing," said L, his head hanging and his hair in his eyes. "I said no, and that's all I need to say."

"Give me one good reason."

"No, I said no! I don't owe you any reason."

"Yes, you do," Aiber growled, and his hands took hold of L's shoulders. "You want me, I want you. Why shouldn't we have what we desire?"

"We work together…" L tried, but that didn't get to the heart of things. "I could never bear for you to see me that way…" And that was far closer to the mark. The idea of being so vulnerable in front of Aiber, and of giving him just what he wanted, was still repellent to L.

"_I want to have you…"_

_Oh God_, he thought fearfully.

"I really can't do this now…." he continued, shaking his head and turning away. "And I hate that you're trying to push me into it….Damn you! !" He put his head in his hands and hunched over, breathing heavily.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he shrugged it away, although it quickly returned. L sighed wearily.

"Alright, I get that it's too soon," said Aiber softly. "But you're not a weak man – I won't let you try to stall me for too long. You can handle it."

Lips grazed the side of his neck, making L gasp a little.

"I want you," breathed Aiber, leaning over him. "Think about that. I want you to. I'll be in touch, and I'll see you again soon." L could've sworn he felt a graze of fingers against his ass. "I'll be waiting."

Aiber made his exit, and L suddenly felt he could breathe again. He vaguely heard Aiber making his excuses to the rest of the party, who by this point were too drunk and chummy with one another to care about him leaving, and then came the sound of the front door shutting behind him. L, not wanting to return to the party, waited for five minutes or so, and then found the back exit.

His cheeks were still warm, and soft arousal was still tingling through him, when he returned home.

* * *

><p>Over the next couple of weeks, L tried very hard not to think about Aiber, or his birthday, or the Chinese restaurant. But how could he avoid it, when even the least remembrance of what had happened sent a shudder of longing through his body? Aiber had awakened something in him, something primitive and unthinking, something that didn't seem to care that Aiber was an asshole bent on tormenting him, but actually seemed to revel in it. And now that it had awoken, the beast had discovered that it hungered.<p>

It suddenly seemed that L could become aroused at any time of day, for no good reason at all. Thoughts of Aiber, however fleeting, almost invariably stirred his flesh to hardness, no matter how much he tried to suppress it. It was difficult to sleep unless he relieved himself, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to do that without more thoughts of Aiber attempting to intrude. For that reason, he began avoiding sleep even more than usual, but that only rendered him constantly drowsy and thus unable to keep his thoughts from wandering where they would.

One night L awoke suddenly, unable to recall the dream he'd been having except for a vague impression of heat, Aiber and soft, silken pleasure in the place he needed it most. He'd tried to go back to sleep, but with his erection tenting the sheets, it was impossible to rest. He'd grudgingly relieved himself with his hand, whilst trying desperately to think of anything but Aiber, but it was only when that smug face and that low voice had filled his mind that he was able to reach climax.

Such thoughts were especially difficult to ignore when L worked cases involving sex. The sordidness of husbands and wives going behind each other's backs, of illicit encounters with prostitutes, of closeted spouses heading to the back rooms of shady bars, recalled to L the incredible dirtiness and wrongness of allowing an asshole like Aiber to touch him as he had. The thought was nothing short of intoxicating. Here before him was the forbidden fruit, golden and desirable and just waiting to be plucked. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to resist.

And maybe there had been a couple of occasions on which thoughts of Aiber had led L to his own bed, to take himself deliberately in hand. Perhaps. L refused to acknowledge, even to himself, that such a thing had ever happened. Surely he had never had such intense orgasms as he imagined Aiber spearing deep into his body, or using his mouth on L's most sensitive parts. Surely he had never imagined how incredible it would be to feel those large, callused hands running all over his body. Surely he had never imagined how Aiber's weight would feel atop his body and between his legs.

_He's as completely unlikable as ever. So why do I feel this heat? _

_The business between us feels so unresolved, so unfinished…_

I_ feel so unfinished_, a treacherous voice in his brain whispered.

When the message from Aiber finally came, asking for a meeting, it was with a great sense of relief – and a treacherous hope of maybe finding another kind of relief – that he accepted.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Just in case it wasn't completely clear, L was dreaming about Aiber giving him oral. That just strikes me as really sexy…

I think you'll like the next chapter – it's long, and it's not exactly G-rated :P Yes, I know how much of an asshole Aiber is – "I felt no _serious_ resistance from you," indeed! – but he happens to be a sexy asshole. As I said before, it's not like L's going to fall in love with him. That's reserved strictly for Raito (although he's really not much better…).

Anyway, I really enjoy reviews, so if you liked this chapter, please let me know! See you next chapter!


	5. Chapter Four: Bowing to the Inevitable

Chapter Four: **Bowing to the Inevitable**

Aiber had a meeting with a French client at the Metropolitan Park Hotel, and so he asked L to meet him there at 6:30, when the meeting was due to end. L made a point of arriving fifteen minutes late, knowing how long such meetings could go, but even so, he found himself waiting more than twenty minutes in the lobby before the client finally excused himself from Aiber's table. It wouldn't do to intrude, no matter how much L would have liked to infuriate Aiber, and in any case, L was in no mood to meet someone new. He dreaded the inevitable moment in which the man would realize that L was a social idiot and would begin to regard him with that distant and almost pitying stare L knew so well. The more new people he met, the more little failures he experienced, and for that reason, he tried to avoid new introductions when he could.

Aiber greeted him as jovially as if they were best friends, and had not been estranged recently, nor had ever fought about whether or not to fuck one another. He pulled out the chair beside him, called a waiter and ordered wine and cake, patted L on the back and beamed at him. He seemed completely sure of himself, and L wondered if he felt he had L just where he wanted him.

"Did the meeting go well?" L said monotonously.

"Alright, alright, but things are definitely looking up, now that you're here."

"Hmph," said L, though he accepted the drink and the cake. They idled there for a while, Aiber alternating between wine and coffee – which was surely unhealthy, thought L, even as he finished his second slice of cake – and speaking cheerily, and L digging into his cake and wondering when the other shoe would drop. He barely touched his drink, only taking in what he considered the bare minimum to not be thought rude. They talked of work mostly, and while Aiber neither said nor did anything obviously untoward, L thought he saw an odd gleam in his eye once or twice.

"Oh, L," Aiber eventually said, as if he had just remembered something. "I reserved a booth for us in the lounge at 8:00. It's far more comfortable and quiet in there, and we won't be bothered by the wait staff every five minutes." When L frowned, Aiber added, "Come on, let me make things up to you. We'll have a drink, hash things out a bit and you can leave whenever you want. Just let me do this for you. I'll be a gentleman, I promise," he said, and smiled as if he'd made a good joke, although L stared at him darkly.

L felt uneasy from the moment he entered the lounge. The lighting was soft, the atmosphere intimate, and the high-backed chairs and sofas set in clumps apart from one another seemed far too private. There were also private booths lining the walls, hung with silk curtains that could be drawn for even greater seclusion, and it didn't really surprise him when the waitress steered them into one of these. As she left, Aiber immediately drew the curtains, leaving the lamp on the wall as the only good source of light in the booth, and putting L on edge. At least Aiber did not try to sit beside him.

For a long time, Aiber seemed content to continue ignoring the elephant in the room. He led the conversation in all sorts of directions, from work, to home, to the news, to books, and so on. If L didn't know better, he almost would have thought that Aiber really did just want to dine and socialize. It didn't escape L, however, that he was trying to get L to drink, first ordering him a slice of exquisite strawberry cheesecake and then refusing to get more unless L had a glass of wine first. He must have discussed this nefarious plan with the wait staff beforehand, because L found that they would not obey his own orders, but would only answer to Aiber. L grudgingly complied, but limited himself to one slice, and thus one glass, an hour. The last thing he wanted was to get dead drunk with an Aiber that he felt certain was just waiting for him to let his guard down.

It was getting late now, and the chatter outside the drawn curtains had softened to a low murmur. The dim lighting and the wine seemed to befuddle him, despite his best efforts, and there again was that gleam in Aiber's eyes that he so mistrusted. He considered leaving, but for reasons he could not explain he stayed quite still, perhaps waiting to finally bring some closure to the matter, and perhaps….Well, L didn't want to contemplate any other reason. In any case, there could be no denying that as the night wore on, and the inevitable moment of confrontation approached, L felt a sense of rising anticipation. If only he knew what exactly he were anticipating.

And finally, during a lull in the conversation –

"May I sit beside you, L?"

Aiber's entire bearing seemed to have changed, all in a moment and without moving a muscle. Now his soft voice seemed consciously seductive, his eyes glinted in the dim lighting, and he almost seemed to grow larger, until he seemed to tower over L even while sitting.

L's eyes widened and he shook his head, adding a "no" just in case the gesture wasn't enough to deter him. Aiber, to his surprise, abruptly reached across the table and captured his hand, kissed the back of it, then said, "What is it you're afraid of? Is the prospect of being close to me really all that bad? I thought we were friends…"

"What you have in mind has nothing to do with _friendship_."

"But it does. Friends…" He hesitated, one of very few times that L had ever seen him do so. But then he leaned in close, and the look in his eyes was nothing short of hungry. "In my experience, it is friends that make the best lovers. They know one another and care about each other's pleasure. It's not only myself that I would look after. I know what I'm doing, and I promise I could make it very good for you –"

"No! No, Aiber, no. Why won't you accept the only answer I can give?"

"Because you've been here with me for hours, just waiting for me to do what I'm doing now. If you didn't want it, you never would have stayed." He kissed L's captive fingers one at a time, his eyes fixed upon L's. "Face it, L, you're drawn to me, as I am to you. What I want to see you do now is run to meet the challenge, like you always do."

Aiber stood, and L immediately shot to his feet as well, their eyes locked across the table.

"I'm going to leave now," said L.

"Sit down, L," said Aiber softly.

L stared, feeling the throb of arousal between his legs and hearing Aiber's words echoing around inside his head. For a long moment, neither spoke nor moved. Then L slowly sank back down in his seat, never taking his eyes off Aiber's face. Aiber stepped over to him, nudged his shoulder to get him to move over, and sat down close beside him so that their sides were pressed together.

"L," he said, tucking a lock of hair behind L's ear and speaking into it. "I know you want this. That's alright – I want it, too. Just let me show you how…"

Aiber gently traced a finger down L's jawline, and L shivered. Aiber smiled covetously, and L could clearly see the lust shining in his eyes now. L opened his mouth to speak, but realized that he had no words ready, and so he just stared at Aiber dumbly for a moment. He thought he saw Aiber glance at his open lips, but then Aiber leaned forward and it was L's neck to which he fixed his mouth, kissing, licking, sucking, nipping his jaw and making L dizzy with desire. L knew exactly what it was he desired, could envision it as clearly as he had on those late nights when he'd taken himself in hand, and while he still resisted the throbbing ache within him, he felt himself falling yet deeper under its sway. Now Aiber's hands were stroking gently over his chest and arms and shoulders, his shirt hardly enough to dull the sensation, especially when Aiber's fingertips brushed over his nipples. His will to battle on was fast becoming spent, and he felt he could not continue much longer before he gave in to this completely.

"What's the matter, L?" Aiber said from L's neck, his roughened voice doing all sorts of things to him. "You're so quiet now. Cat got your tongue?"

"I – I…did not give you leave to touch me this way."

"But you're allowing it. And I think you're enjoying my touch." He deepened his voice still further, the better to torment L. "I've waited a long time to feel you under my hands, and now that I am, I don't feel like stopping."

"Stop it."

"Make me."

L struggled to stand up, but as he was boxed into a corner of the booth, it was nearly impossible, and Aiber quickly captured his wrists to stop him squirming. And then Aiber shocked him with a kiss to the mouth, his tongue softly tracing L's mouth and his lips moving gently against L's. L knew that Aiber's apparent tenderness was only a tactic to arouse him, but the horrifying thing was that it was working. The movements of his lips and tongue were setting him on _fire_, he felt his entire body burning up as the scorching heat of Aiber's mouth consumed his own. One hand had snuck around L's back to play with his hair and stroke his neck, and the other still held L's wrists, although L was too overwhelmed now to think about struggling. By the time Aiber had finally stopped working L's mouth and lips and tongue with his own, L's jeans were almost unbearably tight and his body was trembling with the ache of arousal.

"I can feel you shaking," Aiber whispered into his ear, and began dropping kisses onto his neck once more as L fought desperately to recompose himself. But Aiber's insult – L could only see it as an insult – just seemed to enflame his body further. L realized, to his horror, that there was a part of him that enjoyed shaking in Aiber's arms while the man held his wrists in a death grip and ravaged his neck with soft licks and nips at his skin.

"Wait! Aiber, please stop…"

"I don't think you really want me to."

"I said let me go, _now_!"

To his surprise, Aiber pulled back, although he retained his grip on L's wrists and began caressing the soft skin there with both his thumbs. L's head was swimming. It all felt so wrong, and yet he felt his entire body singing to the feel of Aiber's hands and lips upon it.

"I'll take it slow, I promise," Aiber said, in what L considered a rather poor impression of a caring lover. "I can't promise no pain, but I can pretty much guarantee that you'll enjoy it. I know what to do."

"You act as if I've already agreed."

"I think your body has," Aiber said with a smirk. "So I'm halfway there – _more_." He threaded a hand through L's hair once more, then stroked it down the length of L's back to the beginning of his ass crack. L shivered again.

"Don't run away from this, L. I've been aching for this since I first met you, and I think that you have, too."

"You don't know anything about me," L muttered.

"I know you better than anyone, save Watari."

"You've tormented me for years…"

"Teasing. In all this time I've apparently been so horrible to you, you've just let me in more and more."

"For my career, and my bank account, I've let you work with me."

"It's more than that, and you know it," Aiber breathed, leaning in close. "If you've been unwilling to face it up 'til now, don't you think this is the time to be honest with yourself? I know you feel this…" He slid a hand up L's arm, and L couldn't help but shiver again. "And this…" he pressed his lips hungrily to L's neck. "Now's the time to finally satisfy that ache."

"Not tonight…" L breathed, once again losing himself to the feel of Aiber's hands and lips on his skin and wondering if he wasn't just postponing the inevitable.

"Then just let me touch you…Give me something to think about when I'm alone in bed and wanting you…"

Nothing that L had ever felt compared to the feel of Aiber's hands moving all along his body, first through his clothes and then underneath them, against L's bare skin. L knew now that the battle was lost, and that it was no matter now whether it happened tonight or in a week or in a month…yes, it was inevitable now, and perhaps it always had been. L did not resist as Aiber ravished him with an intensity that was slowly increasing, pressing him back into booth wall and closing in until he rested half on top on him. And all the while they kissed, and kissed, until L thought he would burst from arousal.

Eventually, Aiber broke their kiss as gently as he could, and cupped L's face in his hands as L stared dazedly back at him.

"Come on," said Aiber huskily. "I have a room at this hotel. Let's go upstairs and get more comfortable." He removed himself from atop L, took his hand and began to lead him out of the lounge, and L followed as if in a trance.

_He planned the whole thing,_ L thought. Rent a hotel room, get him tipsy in the bar downstairs and then get him to come back up with him….And then…

The lobby was empty and the front desk unoccupied, a sign of the lateness of the hour and, to L, the final omen that confirmed his fate as Aiber shamelessly pinned him to the nearest wall and pressed against him from shoulder to toe. There was nothing gentle about him now, as he plundered L's mouth with his own and his hands ravished L's body. L wondered, with what little thinking power remained in him, if Aiber had deliberately stepped up his game now to insure that L did not take this opportunity to flee. He could simply walk out the front door now, if he so chose.

But with he and Aiber flush against the wall, and the elevator _right there_ that would take them upstairs and to Aiber's room and to the _bed_….L didn't have it in him to resist. Aiber's mouth was too delicious against his, the press of his length against L's hip was too arousing, the feel of his body caging L's was too overwhelmingly sexual for words.

_If he were to try and carry me, I would allow it_, L thought hazily as they slipped into the elevator and Aiber immediately pressed him against the new wall, smoothing a hand down the back of his thigh and hooking it around his own waist. L moaned.

_This is it, this is it, after all this time, this is it….And I want it. I want it so badly._

The elevator ride and the trip to Aiber's room was a blur of desperate lips and hands. Aiber now pressed L to the door of his room and kissed him roughly while fumbling for the key, and when the door suddenly opened behind L they almost fell to the floor. Aiber chuckled and apologized, and then pulled L roughly into his arms and began tearing his clothes off. L moaned in approval, and while he too wanted to hasten things, he didn't feel right fumbling with Aiber's clothes and helping to take them off – it just seemed so sleazy, somehow. Not that he minded what Aiber was doing to him, but with Aiber, sleaziness was expected (and arousing, as L was shocked to find). Aiber directed his hands onto the button and zipper of his pants, but L had barely undone them by the time L had been stripped down to his underwear. Aiber, growling impatiently, pushed him back onto the bed and set about undressing himself while L watched. He didn't have a bad body, L thought critically, well-shaped and muscular without being ridiculous, although it was a bit on the hairy side. Yet in a way, even that could be sexy – it was so unlike L, vaguely bestial even, and the vulnerability L now felt before this powerfully built person made him positively ache. L's body had completely turned against him now, he was sure, thrilling to all the things that should have disgusted and unnerved him.

Now Aiber had stripped himself completely, and L's eyes widened at the sight of him hard and ready, and already leaking a little onto the carpet. He climbed onto the bed and crawled up L's body until they were face to face, and then L felt the weight of Aiber's lower body against his and his length rubbing heavily against L's own, his boxers no obstacle to the pleasure. L cried out loudly and gripped Aiber's shoulders as Aiber began rutting against him in a rhythm, and Aiber himself was beginning to shudder as he moved. Soon, Aiber drew away, and took out a small bottle of what L assumed to be lubricant. His face, if possible, seemed to heat even more as the reality of what they were about to do came home to him.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he mumbled.

"Everybody does it. Don't you want to know what it's like?"

The desire to be _normal_ again stole through him, coupled with simple curiosity and the anticipation of pleasure in store. "Yeah…I do," he admitted as Aiber covered L's body with his own, beginning to slide L's underwear off his hips even as he pressed his lips gently to L's neck…

It hurt at first, almost unbearably. But gradually the pain began to give way to the sweetest, most intense pleasure. Nerve endings he didn't know he had sang for joy, every inch so very _sensitive_ and helpless against the taut flesh so brazenly rubbing against it. There was stardust in his veins, tingling throughout every part of his body. Everything L wanted was to reach that soft place where all was sweetness and light. He heard himself gasping softly in time with Aiber's movements, knees clenching and shaking around Aiber's waist. His hands lay helplessly on the bed until Aiber directed them around his back, where they held Aiber tight against his body and pushed him even deeper into L. He heard his own exalted cries as the moment of complete ecstasy, the very pinnacle of pleasure swept upon him. Something hot and liquid seemed to fill him from the inside, and he moaned as the rapture of the moment became complete.

Soon it was all over, and the two of them lay flushed and sated on the bed, Aiber reclining against the headboard and L with his head on Aiber's shoulder, and faraway eyes. Aiber was threading his fingers through L's hair.

After a minute or two, L felt himself begin to wake up again, and he squirmed in Aiber's grasp, although Aiber threw an arm around him to prevent him pulling away. L twisted around to get a look at him, and see if he were affected at all by the event that was, to L, nothing short of earth-shattering. The smile upon his face was definitely smug, but there was more than smugness there: there was a contentedness, a relaxed sort of delight, and he seemed almost a little dazed. He looked down and caught L scrutinizing him, and to L's surprise his smile actually widened a little.

"I've never seen you so mussed. I like it."

He pressed a chaste kiss to L's lips, and then hugged him closer – like a boy hugging a stuffed toy, L thought. And indeed, he understood quite well that Aiber considered him little more than a toy, even if there were some affection mixed in with his lust. This didn't especially bother L. He had little use for any affection of Aiber's, and in fact it was probably safest if Aiber didn't feel deeply about this, for then L could break away from him when he wanted to without fear of reprisals. An Aiber in love with him would be a frightening thing indeed.

"Gorgeous," Aiber breathed, burying his nose in L's hair and taking a sniff.

"Don't insult my intelligence, Aiber," L grumbled.

"I'm not. D'you think I would've just done that with you if I found you unattractive?"

"I really can't claim to know what you would or wouldn't do."

"Well, I wouldn't do that. You should know me better than that, by now. Didn't I once tell you I had _fine tastes_?"

L thought he could vaguely remember such a thing.

Aiber lay two fingers underneath L's chin and tipped it up into a kiss.

"Have you ever really looked at yourself? I mean, really looked." Aiber nudged L's head to the side with his nose and nipped at L's ear, the suddenness of it making him gasp. "I know I have."

"Aiber, wait. Don't – we just –"

"Why not? I've waited far too long for this, and I haven't had nearly enough of you yet." He bit L's ear hard now, and the sting of it should have done anything but arouse him. But it did – oh, it did. He couldn't be sure, but he did not think that Aiber would really hurt him; thus, the small pain registered only as a token of the intensity of Aiber's passion. Already he was becoming weak to it.

For a while they simply lay there and kissed, Aiber touching and encouraging a highly embarrassed L to touch in turn. L wasn't hugely turned on by the sight of Aiber's body, but he did like the feel of the muscles playing beneath the smooth skin of his arms, the golden colour of his ridiculous chest hair, the sight and the _feel_ of his large hands. It was almost relaxing, lying there in a state of low-burning arousal (like a pot simmering on a stove, he imagined stupidly), unhurriedly caressing and kissing and rubbing very lightly against one another. Over time, he thought he felt Aiber's touching become slowly more intense, but it might just have been his imagination. He wanted to go to bed (for once), and hoped that Aiber wasn't planning to try for a second time.

Suddenly Aiber's kiss became far more passionate, and he pushed L back down upon the bed as his hands began roaming over his chest with a new desperation; L gasped as they skimmed over his nipples. But he was not yet so far gone as all that, and he struggled vigourously to get out of Aiber's grasp until Aiber pinned his wrists to the bed. For a long moment, neither moved, Aiber staring at L as if he were thinking about something, and L staring right back, trying to anticipate his next move. And then suddenly, Aiber tightened his grip on L's arms and dragged him bodily out of bed, ignoring L's struggles and seemingly deaf to his yells.

"What the hell d'you think you're doing? ? Let go of me! I'm not some little doll that you can haul around wherever you want! What're you –"

_SLAM!_

His hands were forced against the wall, and L was treated to the _infuriatingarousing _feeling of Aiber caging his body and pressing against it. L raised his head and prepared to renew his struggles, but paused when he caught sight of Aiber's face and his own staring back at him from close range. Aiber had brought him over to the mirror, a wide, full-length thing that doubled as the closet door. L looked down, his face flushing beet-red as the sight of their naked bodies together assaulted his eyes, but Aiber grabbed his chin and forced his head back up so that he couldn't escape. Their eyes met in the mirror, and never in his entire life had L so acutely felt that he was prey for another person to consume. The higher functions of L's brain feared it, but baser parts thrilled to the idea of surrender.

Aiber's eyes left his and headed south, slowly panning down his body and back up again with the air of someone savouring a gourmet meal. He noticeably hardened against L's backside.

"Look at you," he breathed. "All soft, fair skin and lithe limbs… all huge, dark eyes and fine features and silky hair…Who _wouldn't_ want you?"

L thought that there were few things more odd than Aiber trying to be poetic. But he couldn't deny how the words affected him, and he sensed that it was arousal rather than romantic feeling that Aiber really wanted to spark in him. It shamed L to realize just how well it was working.

"Well, you're the first one who has," L said, gritting his teeth as he tried once again to get out of Aiber's grasp, but Aiber held onto his arms tightly and pressed them up against his chest almost like a straitjacket, so that L couldn't escape.

"Maybe if you didn't spent all your waking hours in front of a computer…"

"I need my computer for my job! But if you think I'm that unappealing now –"

"Oh, I don't. _Quite_ the contrary. I only meant that you live so reclusively that no one has a chance to see you. It's always been that way with you, hasn't it? What a shame….Then again, that reclusiveness has meant that I'm the first to see you this way, to feel you this way. I couldn't be more delighted. I've wanted you for so long."

He ran a hand up L's arm. "Delicate…soft, smooth," he whispered, and dammit if L's body wasn't responding to the odd "compliments"! "Those huge, soulful eyes….If anybody's eyes were ever windows to the soul, yours are. You can't hide anything from me….And those sweet-looking, soft lips…" He brushed a finger against L's lips in a movement that made him ache. "Now I know just how sweet they taste," Aiber whispered, and his rough voice was doing all sorts of things to L as Aiber leaned down to take his mouth again, working it skillfully until L had gone all shivery and pliant against him. Then, he took L's hands gently in his and guided them back onto the mirror glass. L felt monstrously uncomfortable and humiliated, wanting only to get back to his own room and hide under the bedcovers and never face the world again…and yet there was something in him that thrilled to all this.

"Look, L. Look at what I'm going to do to you," Aiber whispered, trailing warm, moist kisses down L's back as L stared at his own disbelieving reflection.

L didn't know where Aiber had been keeping the lube, but it appeared in Aiber's hand once again, and L watched in anticipation and alarm as Aiber carefully coated his fingers – glancing up at L's face in the mirror every few moments – and directed them down to L's sensitive opening, which they began rubbing enticingly. Aiber kept his eyes fixed on L's through the mirror as he slid the first finger inside, which made L gasp, and then the finger was moving gently in and out, in and out, until L's knees began to shake. Another finger was added, and soon another, until L felt he could barely stand any more, and all the while, he was losing himself in the soft kisses that Aiber was dropping upon his shoulders and neck and back. The fingers slowed and retreated, and then Aiber slid inside him once again; L moaned and hung his head, but Aiber instructed him to look once more, and he reluctantly raised his head just as Aiber thrust in a second time. He saw the light catch in his own eyes as they widened in surprise and pleasure, and then lowered to half-mast as Aiber began to get into a gentle rhythm. L was captivated by his own reflection, by his flushing cheeks, his ruddy lips parted to release little breathy sounds and gasps as Aiber moved inside him, the sheen of sweat on his body, the darkly rosy, erect nipples against the paleness of his skin, the erotic sight of Aiber's hips moving against his from behind. Was this really him? Who was this person staring dazedly back at him through a streaked hotel mirror? L didn't know him.

Aiber was staring at L, and L was staring at himself, each captivated in his own way by the spectacle of L in the throes of wanton passion. But soon L was looking at nothing at all, his eyes slightly crossed and his vision blurred, as he neared his second sweet orgasm of the night. His arms shook with the task of supporting him against the mirror as the pleasure rendered him weak and helpless, all except that one part of him that stood out, proud and wet, from the rest of his body. Aiber suddenly took it in hand, and L let out a tiny whimper as Aiber's rough fingers caressed his most sensitive place. He wanted Aiber there, he realized, he wanted Aiber to touch him where he was vulnerable, he wanted Aiber deep inside him where the soft muscles strained helplessly against the hard flesh cradled there, his entire body swaying to the hypnotic rhythm of in, and out, and _in, and out_….In that moment, he wanted to belong to Aiber.

_Yes! Yes! !_, he thought, as the tremors the presaged orgasm swept upon him, _that's what I want, that's what I want, that's what I…_

And he cried out and came. The hand on his length, so slick now, continued stroking gently, until Aiber shuddered behind him and filled L's passage with smooth, hot liquid. L sighed and sagged forward in Aiber's arms until his cheek hit the mirror, and for a moment the two of them simply stood there, panting. Aiber propped his chin on the top of L's head.

"Well…that was quite a ride, tiger," Aiber said, and L had a sudden flashback to the first day he had met him, when Aiber had called him that. He wondered if Aiber remembered that, or if it were a coincidence.

They returned to the bed, Aiber half-dragging a highly exhausted L. Aiber tried to pull L against him so that his head lay on Aiber's chest, but L resisted and curled up on his side, pulling the blankets up high enough to cover his face. It was only a few minutes before he began to feel sleep come upon him, and for once he welcomed the relief of nothingness stealing over him. He was sure he had already tumbled into sleep when he felt gentle fingers in his hair and a tingle of body heat as Aiber leaned into his ear and whispered, "Dream of me, L….Dream of me…"

_I'm _already_ dreaming of you, you bastard,_ L wanted to tell him, but then he was falling into other dreams, and then he was alone in the bed and the morning sun was streaming through the open windows. Aiber was not to be seen, although a breakfast tray sat on the small coffee table.

For a moment, L just lay there, getting his bearings back. It was morning….He had slept all through the night, and it felt like nothing. In all his years, he couldn't remember such a thing ever happening before.

Had last night really happened? The memory of it was quite seared into his mind, and yet memory alone was not quite enough to convince him that he and Aiber had actually had sex in this hotel room, and that he was a virgin no longer. The heavy, fuzzy feeling in his brain confirmed that he'd been drinking as he remembered doing, but that knowledge seemed to make the whole chain of events less plausible, not more. Perhaps he misremembered things, or had just had some truly trippy pink-elephant dreams. Perhaps he had passed out in the lounge, and Aiber had simply taken him upstairs to recover (he ignored the fact that this would not explain his nakedness). But then again…

L froze as he realized that his asshole ached. The blood rose to his cheeks as the reality of what had happened crashed down upon him, and he flung himself once more under the covers to hide from a new day in which he would have to deal with the fallout. The memory of all the humiliating things he had said, and done, and even _thought_ last night was really coming home to him now, and what he wanted more than anything was to just hide here under the blankets and never face the world again. He felt that if he were to go out now, the truth of what had happened would be known as surely as if it were written across his face. He couldn't stand the thought of facing _Watari_, of facing _clients_, with the shameful knowledge of what he had done last night….And yet, the memory of that night still sent a current of heat throughout his body. He had enjoyed it. There was no way around that.

After a minute of two filled with silent panic, L heard the sound of footsteps on the carpet, and lay still as a statue as he waited to see what Aiber might do. There was a pause, and then L felt the covers being drawn back from his face.

"Time to rise and shine, sunshine." Sunshine? That was rather ironic, considering how L resembled one of the walking undead. L sat up, rubbing his head and glaring as Aiber as only a hungover and recently deflowered virgin could.

"You sleep pretty well for an insomniac. But then, I guess I did tire you out," Aiber said, with a rakish grin that L dearly wished to punch out of existence. Aiber was dressed only in some flimsy pajama pants, and L resented the implication that Aiber expected him to stay awhile.

"You're a very sweet sleeper, you know. I'd hoped you would be."

L rather abhorred the thought of Aiber watching him sleep.

"Don't talk to me like that, as if things have changed between us." L said, and cringed at his own words. He obviously wasn't yet clear-headed enough to discuss the issue seriously, and wished that Aiber would go away so that he could pull himself together…

"They have changed."

…_No such luck._

"Just because like night we…"

"Had sex."

"Er, yes, that – just because of that, you think I'll suddenly like you?"

"I like you." This said with a patronizing smile.

"Don't laugh at me."

"If you can take what I did to you last night, you can take a bit of teasing."

"A bit of teasing! Fuck. You've done nothing but mock and insult me at every turn, for years. I suppose it means nothing to you, but perpetual insults stick in a person's mind, and only build up over time."

"You can take it. Get over it. Or you could give back what you get, and dish out a bit of teasing yourself, if that pleases you."

"People tease their friends."

"I'm your friend." This Aiber said in a slightly husky tone, which unnerved L, although he pressed on nonetheless.

"What we have between us is a partnership of convenience, not a friendship."

"Is that what they're calling it these days?"

L flushed bright red. "A mistake is what I call it…" He stood up, and began scavenging for his clothes. The shirt he picked up, but he hesitated to touch his pants and underwear, as they lay tangled up with Aiber's own clothes.

"Where are you going?" Aiber said.

"Home." L tucked the shirt under his arm and decided he would come back for the rest of his clothes once he was ready to leave. It shamed him to think that Aiber had touched his underwear, and he suddenly had a mad desire to burn it. He could go home commando, and then stick it in the fireplace….Although, if he did that, he might not feel comfortable roasting marshmallows there anymore…

"I thought we could breakfast together. I ordered some coffee and doughnuts just for you, and even a slice of cheesecake."

"No. Where I need to be right now is my own home." Wallet, wallet, where was his wallet? It hadn't been in his pants pockets, he would have noticed the bulge. Had it fallen out when Aiber took his pants off?

"Where you'll have the pleasure of answering all of Watari's questions? Come on, stay awhile and think about what to do next."

L hadn't considered what he would tell Watari.

"I'll avoid him for the time being, and concoct a good excuse later," he said. "Right now I would far rather be in his presence than yours." Ah, there it was – his wallet had skidded into a corner of the bedroom, near the bathroom door. He'd obviously been too caught up in things last night to notice.

"I don't believe you."

Suddenly, hands appeared on L's shoulders and spun him around to face an Aiber with a highly annoyed expression.

"You spent all evening with me, just with the vague hope that I might touch you later on. I don't buy that you'd flee so soon, now." He leaned down and pecked L on the lips before he could react. "I can still make you feel good…"

"Aiber! Please release me. I have no intention of staying so that you can _make me feel good_ or do whatever else you have in mind. I…I gave in to you, isn't that enough? Right now I just need to get home and clear my head…"

Once again Aiber kissed his lips, and that didn't help to clear his head at all.

"Stay," he whispered, and the sound of his voice and the tingling feeling on L's lips made a frighteningly convincing case for the prosecution.

"Maybe some other time…"

"No time like the present," Aiber breathed, and brought their lips together once more. He released L's mouth after a moment, but when L tried to speak, Aiber stopped it again, tongue soft against L's own and lips gently rubbing against L's. L tried to push Aiber away and get into a good position for a kick, but Aiber grabbed his shoulders painfully hard and forced him closer; he stomped on Aiber's foot as hard as he could, and almost got away before Aiber grabbed onto his arm like a vise and yanked L back into his arms so that their bodies were pressed together.

"Hey! Get mphhh –"

Aiber attacked his mouth and shoved him against the wall with an audible thud and a grunt of pain from L. Before L could blink, Aiber was rubbing against him, and he realized just how hard the both of them actually were. He couldn't help it – he moaned as Aiber slid their lengths together, with only Aiber's soft cotton pants in the way. He tried once more to escape, but Aiber pinned his shoulders to the wall, his eyes boring into L's as if trying to will him into compliance.

"I broke your jaw once – I could do it again, Aiber," L said darkly.

"You won't. You won't because you want this just as much as I do, no matter how much you refuse to admit it."

He pressed his erection into L's, and L just barely suppressed the groan of longing that tried to escape him.

"We've barely even started, and look how hard you are," Aiber said. "Don't try to pretend you don't want it. We've already gone as far as we can possibly go, so what's the harm in having a bit more fun before we leave?"

He drew very close, so that their lips were an inch apart and their breath mingled warmly.

"Besides….What's the fun of sex without a little danger?" said Aiber, and he licked the tip of L's nose. L could feel the heat of his half-dressed body to close to L's bare skin, and L found himself beginning to fall under that sexual haze from last night once again.

_Not now! Not again! _

_Not so soon_, amended the treacherous voice in his head. _I can't let him see how he…_

"Mmm, you're a dangerous one, L," Aiber breathed, inhaling the scent of him. "Give me another taste…?"

Then Aiber was leaning in for the kiss, and L found himself unable to resist as Aiber pressed their mouths together, hard, and grabbed L's ass to bring their hips together once again. The rhythmic rubbing of their lengths was nothing short of hypnotic, and the tongue that now sought to invade his mouth was strong and aggressive, somehow urgent in its movements as if Aiber thought he had a limited amount of time to melt L into allowing more. And oh, L was melting now, falling back into that aching state that could only be relieved by the touch of Aiber's hands on his skin, and the feel of Aiber moving inside him.

"You're mine now, aren't you?" Aiber breathed, pulling back just enough to speak and leaning his forehead against L's.

L's deadly glare was the only answer he gave.

"I don't mean it the way you think I do…But…" His voice dipped into what L was beginning to think of as the Sex Voice, the one he used to crush thoughts of resistance and gather a pliable L into his arms. "…Your body knows my touch now, and only mine. When you're aroused late at night in bed, it'll be my face you see as you touch yourself. It'll be me you yearn for to take you, memories of me that you'll see when you want it….And when you're desperate for it, it'll only be me who can satisfy you, because you don't know anyone else. You'll know that I was the one who corrupted your innocence, and for that reason I'll continue to fascinate you, I hope." He took a lick at L's neck, and L shuddered. "It's only fair. Why should I be alone in desire?"

_Fascination…_

In his own sleazy way, this man, with his effortless charm and manipulative skills, with his cons that were clever enough to evade even L's investigations, with his utter self-confidence, and with all the other things that L did not have and wanted to have…had always been fascinating. No less so for being infuriating. If anything, Aiber's constant challenges to him and teasing insults had only intrigued him further.

And there was more.

Now it was fascination with Aiber's large, rough hands that took hold of L, and acute desire at the thought of those hands touching him. Fascination with Aiber's tall, solid frame, with its sturdy muscles and roughened skin, that threatened to overwhelm him; fascination with that treacherous mouth, that knew just what to say and just how to kiss L's skin and lips to make him softly yield. And he felt himself sinking again into needy arousal, the need to be touched by Aiber, the desire to be claimed and taken….How was it that Aiber could make him feel this way?

_I am…fascinated…_ L thought, as their lips drew close again. _Quite…fascinated…_

Their mouths touched, and Aiber's tongue slid out to begin rubbing rhythmically at L's lips. L moaned and leaned in closer, and now Aiber's hands were upon him, one on his waist and the other lightly sliding down his arm and onto his thigh…he felt his leg being hoisted around Aiber's waist, and where had Aiber's cotton pants gone? At some point they had disappeared, so that there was no longer any barrier at all to the intoxicating feel of bare skin sliding against sensitive bare skin. And the union of their mouths was fast becoming more heated, more desperate…

A surge of resistance suddenly took L, so that he pushed Aiber away and unhooked his own leg with a breathy "no." They stared hard at each other for a few moments, panting and flushed, and then at the same time both lunged forward, mouths meeting again with renewed force as Aiber's body slammed L's back into the wall and his splayed hands ran every which way over L's skin as if to learn every inch by touch alone. Suddenly those hands grabbed at the backs of L's thighs and Aiber hoisted L up in the air, L moaning as his back hit the wall and his legs wound automatically around Aiber's waist and they began pulsing together, gloriously naked and so close to their true goal… A hand appeared at L's entrance, and L wasn't sure where Aiber had been hiding the lube but the fingers that now pushed into him were slick and treacherous as Aiber himself, sliding up inside him and curling to brush magnificently against his prostate. He shuddered, one leg almost slipping off Aiber's waist, and someone with his voice choked out, "I want you – please, I want you now –" and then the fingers were removed and something larger began to push inside. L wanted to scream; everything felt so _sensitive_ and all he wanted was to be _taken_. It was such a turn-on to L – himself caged and made helpless by Aiber's strong body, his own legs, so strong and skilled in self-defense, now trembling around Aiber's waist as he plumbed L deeply, his entire body shaking as Aiber drove him closer and closer to that perfect place, that ecstasy that would consume him to his core.

"This is us, L…this is us down to our essence," panted Aiber. "It was always going to happen…"

And at the moment, L felt powerless to do anything but believe him. As he shuddered and his inner muscles fluttered around Aiber's hard length, and as Aiber drove into him hard and fast in such a state that L could feel that length twitching within him, nothing had ever seemed so inevitable.

Aiber began thrusting still harder and deeper inside him, letting out the occasional low moan. L's hands dug themselves into Aiber's hair as he leaned down to kiss him, mouth moving in time with Aiber's rhythmic thrusts inside him. He was almost at climax now, convulsing around Aiber with nearly every thrust, and his hands were shaking so hard he found himself pulling at Aiber's hair to keep them steady.

_Almost there, so close –_

But then suddenly Aiber had removed him from the wall, and L moaned in frustration, but Aiber only seemed to take that as further encouragement. Perhaps it even was so, for without the wall to help support him, L was forced down further onto Aiber's length, quite as far as was possible, and the almost painful pressure of it pushed him to the very brink of orgasm, and he was sure another thrust or two would finish him off –

And then L was cushioned by a mattress and soft pillows, and Aiber slipped first slightly out and then deep inside him once again and L lost himself all at once, vaguely hearing a noise of surprise from Aiber followed by the feel of rapid kisses all along his chest as he rode out his orgasm and Aiber continued thrusting into him. Very soon, he too came, and they lay panting against one another for a short while. Once his breathing had calmed down, and the splattered come had begun to dry, Aiber began tentatively moving inside him once more, and L let out a soft sound as Aiber's arousal rubbed against all the areas inside him that were now hyper-sensitized. Soon they were in the grips of the sweet fever once again, L gasping breathily as the wanton pleasure overtook him once, and then a second time a few minutes later. Not so long after that, L found himself riding Aiber, closing his eyes to spare himself the shame of looking at the two of them and shuddering at the sheer force with which Aiber could strike his prostate in this position.

Then went on this way for quite some time, and it was not until a couple of hours later that they emerged from the bedroom, sated and sore (more so in L's case) and too exhausted to carry on. One glance at the clock told L that it was noon, and they had already missed their check-out time.

Afterwards, as they cleaned up and got ready to leave, L took in the wasted room and the stains they had left, and felt shame roll through him. He hated himself for the things he had done, the things he had said, the things he had _thought_….Surely, it was unacceptable for a detective with any backbone to allow himself to be taken like this, to wish for it and thrill to it. Such desires could only represent the weakest part of him, and as such, they had no place in his life.

By the time he'd dressed and left the hotel, his mind was made up. This was never to happen again, certainly not with Aiber, and perhaps never with anyone. He felt quite as humiliated as he had after the incident with Ishibashi. How could he have let Aiber see him so vulnerable? How could his own body and mind have so brazenly turned against him? If he were certain of one thing, it was that Aiber was a very bad influence on him indeed. This weakness he cultivated in L could not be tolerated.

_If this is what being sexual entails, then I want no more part of it. I can prevent such things from happening again, if I put my mind to it. I'm sure I can._

So he told himself until the next time he met his arrogant partner, and Aiber tripped him into bed once again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Once or twice, I asked uberneko-zero if she could include a mirror scene with L and Raito in her story. But since she doesn't twist herself into knots trying to fulfill the twisted fantasies of every random fangirl (how dare she!), I wound up incorporating a mirror scene into this fic, and replacing Raito with Aiber XD It was inspired largely by a scene in _Junjou Romantica_, where the main couple has sex in front of a city window at night with the lights off, so that the uke can see both his own reflection and the city outside as he gets fucked. I actually wound up re-watching JR because of this fic (and then I learned about the spinoff sequel, _Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi_, and had to go watch that, and then I had to go read the manga of it…). Anyway, there's a point in the story in which the dark-haired, huge-eyed uke from the mirror scene, Misaki, thinks that he must be releasing pheromones that draw certain people to him. It's really weird, because I'd already written a similar line for L, way back in the prologue! Maybe I unconsciously remembered the line from JR. Or maybe it's a coincidence. Either way, it's really funny how that turned out.

There is no such Tokyo hotel as the Metropolitan Park. However, there is a Park Hotel and a Hotel Metropolitan. While writing the description of the hotel, I looked at pictures of a number of four-star Tokyo hotels to see if there were a real one I could use. I didn't find one in particular, but the Park and the Metropolitan were a couple of the ones that came close to the sort of thing I had in mind. The Metropolitan, for instance, has a Japanese restaurant with curtain-drawn private booths lining the walls, although they're not as intimate as the ones I describe.

This chapter, and the previous one, were the most difficult to write. These are the chapters in which Aiber really seduces L, and I found it hard to strike the right tone and make it seem believable. I like to think that it turned out fairly well, and I hope that you enjoyed it! Next chapter will show the progression in L and Aiber's relationship after their first night together, and will set the stage for Raito's arrival in the story! He won't actually appear next chapter, but he will feature heavily in the chapter after that.


	6. Chapter Five: Entr'acte

Chapter Five: **Entr'acte**

"Why don't you give me your phone number? Shouldn't a person be able to call his lover when he wants?"

"Lover? Don't toy with me, Aiber."

"Well then, what would you say? Friend with benefits? Fuck buddy? _Boyfriend?_" said Aiber, with a snort. "It's cowardly not to describe things as they are. And I know you're not a coward." He leaned into L's ear and flicked it with the tip of his tongue. "My little adventurer…"

"Aiber – "

"And that's another thing. I've told you to call me by my given name." He looked L in the eyes, and there was a smirk on his lips. "It's just a bit odd hearing my codename screamed in pleasure when you're writhing on my bed…"

L flushed. _It's not like that at all!_, he thought. It wasn't even Aiber's bed most of the time, since they tended to go to hotels. Leave it to Aiber to twist things around in the precise way that could humiliate him most.

Since that first night at the hotel, sex had rapidly become an intrinsic part of his and Aiber's relationship. L had resisted in the beginning, but no matter how much he tried to tell himself not to let sex weaken him and not to let Aiber get so close, Aiber's skillful touches and kisses, and L's treacherous desire for the transcendent pleasure that came from being taken, always led him to eventually give in. Soon he had given up at trying to stay chaste, although he still sought to keep Aiber at bay when he could…which was admittedly not so often. In most other respects, things between he and Aiber were the same as they ever were – frustrating but tolerable – and while Aiber teased him mercilessly with both words and fingers now, his manner seemed a bit more laid back than before, as if he felt that, now he had what he truly wanted from L, he could relax and enjoy things. Or perhaps it was simply that Aiber no longer felt the pressure of bottled-up sexual tension every time he saw L. L, for his part, disliked the bother that went with spending extra time with Aiber, but there could be no denying that he enjoyed the sex immensely, and craved it during those times when he and Aiber didn't see each other for a while.

As they both had their own cases, and Aiber had his various cons, it was common for them not to see each other for days or occasionally even weeks at a time, and L wondered what Aiber got up to when he wasn't around. Did he take other lovers? It seemed likely, and in fact L assumed it was so. Aiber's "business concerns" brought him into elite circles L would never see, and he seemed to be forever going to fancy dinners and late parties, such as L imagined to be the ideal hunting grounds for warm flesh. Aiber was a hedonist at heart, and his self-confidence was total, so that he would never hesitate to charm and seduce a pretty young thing that caught his fancy. L didn't really care if Aiber slept with other people, yet he resented the fact that Aiber had other experiences, whereas Aiber was all he knew. He also wondered, with some unease, how well he shaped up against those faceless others that Aiber bedded, and had bedded, in what was sure to be a long and colourful sexual history. Aiber was no supermodel, but L did not doubt that the man was nonetheless a lot better looking than him (setting aside Aiber's own protests to the contrary), and as such, L expected that Aiber's other lovers would probably be better looking, too. It made him mildly nauseous to think of Aiber mentally sizing L up against the others he slept with, his flaws and deficiencies made stark up against much better specimens. L dreaded the idea that Aiber might tire of him before he tired of Aiber – that one day he might wind up, essentially, being _dumped by Aiber_! He could think of nothing more humiliating. And yet he couldn't seem to stop sleeping with him.

"Close your eyes," Aiber whispered one night as they lay half-naked upon the bed, Aiber reclining against the headboard and L sitting on his lap with his legs splayed, hard flesh sliding slickly against hard flesh, and yearning heavy upon them. In any other situation, L would have seen red if Aiber tried to order him around, yet now he merely looked into Aiber's face for a moment, eyes dazed and slightly crossed, before doing as he was told. The life of the bedroom was not like the life outside, L now knew. The rules were different. Aiber knew it, too, and always took full advantage of the time when L was his. Now he began kissing L's neck, and when L tilted his head back to allow him better access, baring his throat to him, Aiber moaned at the submission and trust that the movement betrayed. L understood this, and yet somehow still allowed it, even revelling in his own surrender. Now Aiber was leaning forward, cradling L's back, and L felt himself being lowered onto the soft bed with his feet facing the headboard, felt the heavy weight of Aiber's body atop his, and then rough, callused hands sliding up under his shirt to caress his sides, stomach, chest. First one thumb and then the other brushed his nipples, making him gasp. A pillow appeared under his head. Aiber's hands slid slowly back downwards to grasp the hem of L's shirt and begin to pull it over his head; L opened his eyes and half sat up as the shirt was discarded and caught Aiber starting lustfully at his naked skin. Then Aiber was bearing him back down on the bed, his weight almost oppressive as he lay between L's legs and his fingers found L's entrance, began to gently penetrate him.

Aiber touched him tenderly not because he adored him, L knew, but because his slow ravishing of L aroused them both, and Aiber knew it. He also knew that it was gentle, slow-burning passion, as opposed to the greedy, voracious kind, that rendered L the softest and more pliant in his arms. It was when he most wanted to enthrall L that he took this route – when it was L's mind even more than his body that he wanted to make his own. This would mean nothing in the morning, but now…now, it seemed to mean everything. And now, as Aiber slid inside him, rubbing against all those sensitive places that sparked such blissful pleasure within him, L allowed the awful, beautiful fantasy to consume him. It was all he could do.

* * *

><p>"Don't get too involved with him. We both know where his money comes from. As a business partner he's been helpful, but make no mistake, he's trouble…"<p>

"I know, Watari, I know. Believe me, there's no danger of getting too involved. I like him no better than I ever have."

"I don't approve of your liaisons with him, L, and I never will. I obviously can't stop you, since you're a grown man now. But I wish I could."

"Do you think I should have never slept with anyone? Remained ignorant and chaste forever?"

"No. I think that if you want a lover, you should go out and find one. But it should not be Aiber. You should not allow a scoundrel like him to get that close to you, and I'm speaking about your personal safety now! He's a dishonest man with powerful contacts, and he may turn on you if you fail to give him everything he wants."

"If that's so, isn't it a little late to back out now?"

"Are you really going to be so blasé about this?"

"I'm certainly not going to panic. I don't think he will do that, Watari, no matter how dishonest he is. His…interest, shall we say….Well, if he really wanted to coerce me into sleeping with him, he would have done it soon after I met him, instead of embarking on such a lengthy and painstaking conquest."

"Now that he's in bed with you, though, he may think differently. It's harder to give up something you actually have than something that was never yours."

That was a good argument, L had to admit. He took a moment to think about how he was going to counter that. Suddenly he recalled Aiber's words, that day he had first outlined his vision for their partnership.

"_It was never my intention to smother you…This may surprise you to hear, but I like your fire, L, and I have no desire to break you. I prefer you wild and untamed, unpredictable…"_

Aiber had always been forceful in his seduction of L, but he had always sought consent. Aside from ethical considerations, which L did not believe troubled Aiber much, Aiber seemed to feel that he would not get what he truly wanted unless L were willing. Aiber wanted L to touch him back, he wanted to see L in the throes of passion, and know that he had conquered him…

"_Kiss me," Aiber said._

_It was their second rendezvous, about two weeks after the first, and L, already satisfied, was lying almost contentedly under Aiber as the aftershocks began to dissipate._

_L tentatively raised himself up and placed his lips on Aiber's for a long moment, then relaxed back into the pillow._

"_Again. Harder," said Aiber. He lowered himself until their lips were two inches apart, and put a hand under L's head to support him. But it was L who made the final move, sealing their mouths together and starting up a harsh rhythm that was echoed in the movements of their bodies. _

"_More," Aiber breathed between kisses, and L forcibly pulled Aiber's head down towards his._

_His tongue moved inside Aiber's mouth in time with Aiber's movements inside him, faster and harder, harder and faster, and L felt his entire body heating up as climax swiftly approached. He let out a cry into Aiber's mouth as he came once more, and Aiber moaned as he found his own climax in L's convulsing body. _

The memory made L blush – he seemed to do that a lot, when it came to Aiber – but in it, he thought he found a window into Aiber's unfathomable mind. It was important to him to know that L wanted it. L remembered the way that Aiber had stared at him in the mirror that first night, as he watched L slowly lose himself. He wanted to see L's passion, not passive resignation and non-resistance. There was an aspect of what L was tempted to call affection in Aiber's attitude towards him, or something like that, anyway – whatever cousin to affection that men such as Aiber were capable of feeling. Perhaps there was even some form of respect. L felt that, unless it were under exceptional circumstances, he was fairly well protected from Aiber's darkest side.

"I do not think he will do that. He's always given me the latitude to live my own life, at least. I don't doubt that my refusing him now would cause trouble both for myself and for you, but I do not think he would go as far as threats or blackmail, and you'll just have to trust me on this."

"How sure are you?"

"Let's say…80%?"

"That's not enough for me, especially as you haven't given me any real reasons."

"Do you really want to hear such private things about Aiber and I? Even if I wanted to tell you, which I don't, I don't think you would take it well."

Watari looked a bit uneasy, and L knew he was right. The last thing Watari wanted was details about what L and Aiber did behind closed doors, and L had no intention of telling him.

"My judgement's usually clear, isn't it? Just put a bit of faith in me."

"I guess I have no choice. But I don't find your judgement with regard to people nearly as clear as your judgement about cases. I really hope you will think about this, and prepare a – shall we say, escape plan – in case things go sour between you and him. Will you do that?"

"I will consider the matter."

"…Alright. I guess that's the best I'm going to get out of you," said Watari, and sighed with what L could only assume was frustration. He bade L a good afternoon and made his exit, and L was left to ponder on his own some more.

* * *

><p>The routine into which L and Aiber had settled went unchanged for a very long time. They worked on a case, they fucked, had dinner when the case ended, and then the cycle repeated itself. Aiber made a great nuisance of himself, as he always had, and L did his best to soldier on anyway and make sure that they finished in good time. Half the time, Aiber seemed more preoccupied with having sex with him than he did with the case at hand, which L found nothing short of remarkable, considering the money to be made and L's own obvious plainness. But there it was. In any case, L still enjoyed the sex very much, so that even when Aiber seduced him away from his work, it seemed almost worth it, after the fact.<p>

The biggest problem with sleeping with Aiber was that it necessitated spending more time with Aiber, and the more time L spent in his presence, the more grating he found him. And the more Aiber took their partnership – both at work and in bed – for granted, the more he tried to impose himself upon L in his personal life, attempting to drag him out for dinner, or to the theatre, or any other idiotic thing that crossed his mind. L knew better than to believe Aiber was trying to actually_ date_ him, but it was grossly annoying to have to always avoid Aiber's attempts to socialize with him.

"I'm not going to fall in love with you, if that's your goal," he said one day, as Aiber was trying to pester him into going to some ritzy party or other in Urayasu.

"Christ, L, who said anything about love? We go well together, and you know I enjoy spending time with you…"

"Well, I don't enjoy spending time with you."

"Your body tells me otherwise."

"It seems to have its own agenda. But I will never find your presence any more than barely tolerable."

Over time, he had in fact developed some tolerance for Aiber, and even a measure of patience, but neither tolerance not patience could be a substitute for liking.

"That'll always be the way of it with you, won't it?" said Aiber, who looked greatly displeased. "It hardly seems fair, considering how highly I think of you."

"You'll just have to deal with it, or else stop seeing me."

"Well, I wouldn't want to do _that_, now would I?" Aiber said, pressing a hand to the back of L's head to bring their lips together briefly. "I won't stop trying to get you to like me, L. I think you _do_ like me more than you admit."

L seriously doubted that.

"But L, I have no interest in tricking you into loving me, or any emotional shit like that. I want to see you clear-eyed when I kiss you, and I want to see you challenge me like the defiant whiz-kid you are. I'd hate to see you fooled into some muddy thinking about love, angsting away over something that could just never happen, and spoiling all the fun of what we do. It would ruin you for me."

"Huh. And here I'd thought it was keeping me under your thumb that you most enjoyed."

Aiber's mouth formed a smile that was almost a leer. "Oh, I do love it when you submit to me," he breathed. "As you _so often_ do. Don't get me wrong about that."

L glared.

"But what fun is that, if you give in without a fight? If I wanted instant, mindless submission, I'd buy a sex doll. I want to seduce you, to feel you fight me every step of the way, until you can't resist it any longer. I'd hate to see you lose that spirit – and I'd probably become bored after a while, too." He traced L's lips with a finger. "No, I want to see you fiery and headstrong. I don't suppose you know just how…_enticing_ it actually is…" His mouth was drifting closer to L's, and L was torn between leaning in or pulling away. "It's almost as enticing as when you finally yield and let me take you." Closer still, and L parted his lips as anticipation tingled through him. "L," he whispered, and his lips were almost on L's now. "…Come here." He licked at L's lips with his tongue until L couldn't take it anymore and leaned forward to seal their mouths together.

Soon L was on his stomach, head tilted back and eyes closed as Aiber gently kissed down his back. He wasn't sure if Aiber was going to take him or use his tongue, but either option sent shivers down his spine and sparked molten heat between his legs. Either one would soon lead him to a sweet climax. He was propped up on his elbows, but they threatened to give out under the delicious offensive of kisses with which Aiber plied him. It was so easy to give in, so easy to let the exquisite heat take him over until his body ached for Aiber's touch, Aiber's mouth… And now Aiber's fingers were moving gently inside him, preparing him, even as Aiber's mouth traced around the sensitive opening and made it quiver in anticipation…

Afterwards, he felt rather empty. That had been happening increasingly often, of late.

As some more months passed, and then more, until eventually those months turned into years, L found himself growing progressively more bored with Aiber. He wasn't quite sure what the reason was. Perhaps it was because he knew all of Aiber's tricks and manipulations now, to the point that he always felt he was going in circles when he dealt with him. Sparring with Aiber was a game that he'd never liked in the first place, but now that he had acquired some skill at it and knew what tactics to use, even the thrill of the challenge was not what it once had been. The sex was definitely still good, but by now he felt that he knew all of Aiber's techniques and stratagems, and that there was nothing new to see or feel. L no longer craved Aiber as strongly as he once had, and took it for granted that even if he stopped sleeping with him now, he could always go back in a year or two and have things be exactly as before. As long as Aiber was in his life, L could have sex whenever he wanted it – and oddly enough, it was precisely this that made him want to stop for a while.

Perhaps the truth was that he didn't feel he needed Aiber anymore. If he wanted his own career, he could have it – by this time, he was established enough that he could probably survive the loss of Aiber's partnership without it having a crippling impact on his business. If he wanted another lover…well, that was far easier said than done, but hypothetically, he could have that, too. He was no longer the scared naïf that he had been. Hell, he could even hire a prostitute if he became desperate enough; he thought he could handle that now, as he could not have when he'd still been a virgin. But that might not be necessary – L had had good, regular sex for long enough that he felt he could endure a dry spell, even quite a long one. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to give Aiber up permanently or merely take a break from him, but in any case he didn't think Aiber would ever again thrill him quite the same way he once had. Surely if L tried, he could find someone to fill the void. Really, he was beginning to think that it might be better to just drop Aiber for good, and move on.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I'm sorry this chapter is so short. Somehow, trying to move the story forward by a few years winds up taking less space than chapters that occur over much shorter time periods. By the way, the reason the chapter title is "Entr'acte," which literally means "between the acts," is because it describes the period in between the time Aiber made himself an important force in L's life, and the time when Raito will do the same. You have that to look forward to, next chapter! See you then!


	7. Chapter Six: In with the New

Chapter Six:** In with the New**

The bar was dim and crowded, and on most nights would have been the last place that L wanted to be. It still was, but tonight L was on a mission of social education, and that made this a good place to people-watch and possibly even mingle.

_Ugh, "mingle." It's an ugly word. If it must be done, it should at least be given a prettier word to help dress it up a little. "Diarrhoea" sounds lovely, if only you don't know what it is. _

He looked at the drinks menu for a while, trying to decide what he wanted. Aiber always ordered red wine, and that wasn't bad, but he wanted to do things differently tonight, so he ordered white wine instead. Honestly, he thought the red was better – the white lacked the faint sweetness of the red – but it was tolerable enough to drink and pass the time with. It wasn't as if there were much else to do, except eat and watch people socialize, and the latter generally bored L, if it did not completely mystify him. It was like watching people speak a language he didn't know.

How did they do it? L wondered. How did these people with half his intelligence go about through this human jungle and know just what safe paths to take? Had they learned over time, as he had never bothered to do, or was it all instinctual? And if it were the latter, what was wrong with L that he apparently lacked this instinct? How could everyone here look so at ease?

Like the tall brunet at the bar, with the blonde on his arm. That was Aiber's sort of crowd. This man positively oozed charisma and charm, his clothes looked expensive, and the beautiful woman on his arm looked nothing short of enraptured. Now there was a person who had never wanted for either friends or lovers, a confident and wealthy social butterfly who could have anything and anyone he wanted. Generally those sorts of people made L faintly ill, but now it was envy that he felt for this person who so obviously had everything he lacked, and made it look so easy. Doubtless he would, after a few drinks and some verbal foreplay, skillfully maneuver that woman to his bed and indulge in a night of heady passion…

L shook his head to clear it. It had been quite a while since he and Aiber had gone to bed together, and L missed the sex more than he cared to admit. Aiber kept trying to press him into it, and had been extremely frustrated when L spent his last birthday alone, and yet for L it was a great relief to take a break from Aiber and not have to deal with his tricks and games. He held out hope that he might someday, and perhaps even within the confines of this bar, find a new lover, someone who wasn't Aiber with whom he might again enjoy the ecstasies of sex. Whether he would like this hypothetical new lover to be a man or a woman he wasn't entirely sure, though he was definitely leaning towards woman. It would be nice to sleep with a woman and see how that compared with Aiber's overpowering masculinity. L understood women to be physically softer, smoother, and that would not be a bad change after Aiber's large body, all muscle and hair. And he _badly_ wanted to know what it would be like to be inside a woman, to be the penetrator instead of the penetrated for once, and feel the silken muscles inside react to and contract around him. But he thought that women might not be able to deliver the same overwhelming experience that Aiber always promised, and while L wanted a chance to try being in the lead, he wasn't sure he would like it as much as being pinned to the bed and ravished mercilessly. What if his disappointment led him back to Aiber's bed again? Surely that was not a healthy choice, nor one that seemed very appealing now, but it could happen if he despaired too much of finding another. He'd had enough sex by now to know that he liked it, and would like to continue having it, if possible. Yet what if Aiber was the best that he was going to find? He was almost certainly better-looking than anybody L could find on his own. The time in which he'd truly wanted Aiber was over, yet if there was no one else…

Somehow while his thoughts had wandered, his eyes had remained staring vaguely in the direction of the brunet, who now turned towards him and caught him looking. L quickly looked away, hoping that he was not flushing red. He did not allow himself to look back again for a few minutes, and by that time the man and the blonde woman with him had settled into a booth and were chatting happily away. At least, the woman seemed to be very happy, though L couldn't see the man's face. For his own part, L felt rather relieved that the man was facing the opposite direction, for something about those brown eyes had unsettled him.

By and by, L found his mind wandering once more, too bored to take up the task of studying the other patrons, and too depressed to find it worthwhile. He abandoned his drink and took to doodling on his coaster, and didn't even notice the presence of the brunet from earlier until the man was standing right beside him.

"Could I borrow your pen?" said the stranger, in a smooth voice that seemed just a bit too familiar for L's liking. L bristled, and turned away.

"I suppose," he mumbled, unable to think of a good reason why not. "What do you need it for?" What, he wondered, could be so important as to justify disturbing him when he was obviously in the middle of something? He banished the voice in the back of his mind that suggested that doodling on his coaster did not count as being in the middle of something.

The man shrugged and said, "It's work-related."

_But you're here with a girl. _

"By the way…were you looking at me earlier?" said the brunet, and L thought he detected a hidden smirk on those lips.

"N-no! Why would you think that?" said L.

"I don't mind being looked at, you know," said the brunet confidentially, as if telling him a secret. "How can you ever get to know someone if you can't even make eye contact? It's not very nice. I'll have you know" – he lowered his voice – "that you can look at me any time you want."

L made a few stammering attempts at an answer, but eventually gave up.

"So may I have that pen, please? I'll return it as soon as I can."

His hand briefly brushed L's as he swept away from the table, and L wondered if it were an accident.

* * *

><p>"Ah, Yagami-san, pleasure to meet you. Take a seat and let's talk business, shall we?" Aiber laid his feet out on the corner of his desk and gestured Raito into the room.<p>

Raito sat down, taking in the gaudy décor of Aiber's office with disapproval. The man's personality manifested itself in everything, from the dark, striped wallpaper to the oversized mahogany desk to the fucking mini-chandelier dangling above his head. The bookshelves behind him were filled with heavy tomes largely unrelated to the work he did, and the gritty Persian rug was obviously fake and looked cheap. Showy, pretentious, superficial…Raito could only hope that the man's work was better than his taste.

"So, Yagami-san, what can I do for you today?"

"I want information about an acquaintance of mine. They say you're the best." Raito had heard no such thing, but Aiber seemed the type to reward flattery. "And in this case I may need the best, since the person I want to inquire about is a detective like yourself, and takes precautions to stay in the shadows."

"I flatter myself I have a working knowledge of every private detective in the area," Aiber drawled. "We're a clubby bunch, always bumping into one another on cases….I hope you understand that as I have a personal stake in this – most of my fellow detectives are my close friends, and rely on their anonymity to insure their safety – you'll find that the price is greater than it would be for an ordinary person. I also wouldn't mind knowing a little more about you before I blow the cover of one of my colleagues and possibly hand him or her over to an enemy. I hope you don't mean any harm to this person?"

"Not at all. This new acquaintance – this friend of mine – is just on the secretive side, and a bit quiet, so I'd like to know more about him in order to know how to approach him and strengthen the relationship. I don't know much about him at present, but I can tell you that his name's L Lawliet and I believe he lives somewhere in the Futako Tamagawa area. Do you know him?"

For a moment, a startlingly ugly look crossed Aiber's face, but it was gone so quickly Raito almost missed it. It was replaced by a look of nonchalance that had to be feigned.

"I must say, I'm surprised that you've come to befriend L," he said. "He's something of a recluse, and as far as I know has never had much in the way of friends. How did you two manage to cross paths?"

"In a local bar."

"Really? And here I thought the poor boy would never get any fresh air," said Aiber, and gave a cheery laugh that discomfited Raito. "Perhaps he's trying to open up more. I've always told him to get out in the world, and it seems he's taken the advice to heart." Somehow he did not look very pleased about this.

"Just how well do you know him?" said Raito, who suddenly had a terrible suspicion about the reason for Aiber's strange behaviour. Had he ever –?

Aiber gave him a stare that could freeze summer. "L and I go way back, since he was nothing but a skinny teenager trying to break into detective work. I've given him all the help I was able, and he's been…very grateful to me in return." He flashed Raito a nasty smile. "We have the sort of bond that is not easily broken, he and I."

There was a pause.

"I'm sorry, Yagami-san, but I don't think I will be able to help you pry into his life. L means something special to me, and I would hate to see his anonymity compromised in any way. And I'm sure you'll understand if I feel obliged to give him a heads-up that a so-called friend of his has gone snooping behind his back."

Raito's jaw clenched. He stood, wanting nothing more than to slug that superior smirk – that smile that told him he'd _known_ L in ways Raito could only dream about – right off his face. But that had never been his style, and the unfortunate fact was that he would probably get the worst of it in a physical confrontation. So it was back home, then, where he could dream some more: this time, of putting a bullet right between Aiber's eyes, and insuring that he never fucked L again.

"If that's the way of things, then I have nothing left to say to you," he said. "Good day, Aiber-san. L must be lucky indeed to have a _friend_" – he sneered the word – "of that calibre." And with that he swept out of the office, leaving the door to bang shut behind him.

* * *

><p>"I hear you've taken a new lover."<p>

L blushed. He had just barely met Raito, and they certainly hadn't slept together yet. It was unnerving how quickly Aiber had found out.

"Perhaps I have. Just how extensively have you been tracking me?"

"Enough. So, how close are you to this new guy – this Yagami Raito?"

"It's really none of your business."

"It's entirely my business. The last time I checked, it was me that you lay skin-to-skin with and opened your body to. Even if you've been ignoring me…"

"Aiber…It's been almost a year since I was – with you – last."

"Don't you think that's long enough?"

L looked at him uncertainly, but did not respond.

"What sort of man is this Yagami Raito, anyway? Is he decent to you, a gentleman? Have you ever had cause to think that he may not be the wonderful, caring lover he has no doubt made himself out to be?"

L narrowed his eyes. "You obviously have something you want to say, Aiber, so go ahead and say it."

"I needed to let you know he's investigating you. He even approached _me_ to do the job, although I obviously declined to be a part of his scheming. I needed to let you know now, before you got too involved with him and, perhaps, found out only too late that he is not what he appears to be."

"…Wait a minute, he went to you? You didn't tell me you'd met him!"

Aiber looked scandalized. "I'm telling you right now! God, did you even hear what I just said? Yagami is digging stuff up on you!"

"I heard you just fine. I'll deal with that later, but right now I want to know just what you're trying to do here."

"I'm trying to save you pain and heartache, L. No good deed goes unpunished, I guess."

"I don't believe for a second that you told me this out of the _goodness of your heart_. You just want to make sure he doesn't have me, so that you can."

"Does it even matter to you that he's gone behind your back like this? Or are you so besotted with him that you refuse to see – "

"I will never return to your bed, Aiber. If ten months and more of avoiding your overtures wasn't clear enough, I'll tell you outright. I will not go back to you anymore. That time is over now, and there really is no going back. I've…gotten everything from you that I'm going to."

"Well, _I_ haven't! I still want you," Aiber said, eyes searching his face hungrily as if to catch him lying.

L looked Aiber square in the eye. "That's your problem. I have no duty to relieve you of your lust, even if I wanted to. Unfortunately for you, that's no longer what I desire. Even if it weren't him, it wouldn't be you – not anymore."

L had the distinct impression that Aiber wanted to throttle him. Certainly, his glare was lethal as he said, "It still shouldn't be him. He's an arrogant peacock who thinks he can do whatever he wants because of his connections. I know his type. He'll treat you like dirt because he thinks he's entitled, and after a few fucks or so he'll grow bored and cast you off like so much used rubbish, and expect you to be grateful for the privilege. When that happens, I'll still be here. Come on, L, don't be a fool for him –"

"I'm still willing to work with you, Aiber, albeit in a reduced capacity. But you have to know that work is all that will be between us –"

"I don't accept that. We were always meant for more than that. Every time you've tried to deny it, we've always wound up going further." He paused for a second.

"I don't believe for a second that he wants more than a couple of fucks out of you. So you know what? Fine. Have things your way, see if I care. When he throws you away, you'll know who to call. You know my number, even if you've never bothered to give me yours."

"Aiber, I –"

"This isn't over, L. Don't think for a second that it is. You're a fool if you think you can get rid of me so easily."

By the time Aiber finally left, obviously in the throes of a jealous rage, L was beginning to think that Watari had been right about him all along.

* * *

><p>No matter what he had said to Aiber, L was highly pissed off by Raito's going behind his back to investigate him. It was an incredible breach of his privacy, especially as a detective, and there was always the chance that Raito might find something damaging with which to blackmail him. Perhaps that was the whole point of the scheme. It was also incredibly hypocritical of him to dig up info on L when he was so secretive about himself, consistently evading L's questions and making it clear that he considered them impertinent. L was just about ready to wash his hands of him. And that was why he was so massively uncomfortable to find himself once again sitting across from Raito in the bar.<p>

This was, in fact, the first planned meeting between them. The first few times they'd met, it had always been by accident – or by "accident," as L got the distinct impression that Raito was deliberately waiting around for him. At first, some treacherous part of L – the one that had been hoping to find a new lover – was intrigued and almost absurdly flattered by the idea that someone who looked like Raito might actually want him. Despite the dismissive way Raito generally treated him, there could be no denying Raito's incredible beauty, and L hated to admit to himself just how strongly he was drawn to it…to him.

But since the revelation about Raito's _extracurricular research _on him, he had grown wary. Here, he thought, was a person who couldn't be bothered actually holding a conversation with him, but wanted only to get the upper hand. In L's experience, the people who hired him to dig up information on others generally fell into two groups. First, there were those who wanted to find out someone's weaknesses. Perhaps it was a spouse looking for evidence of infidelity, or a salaryman looking to bust a rival down to size. Perhaps it was – yes – someone looking for blackmail material (although L didn't take cases where he suspected foul play). Second, there were the stalkers, those who obsessively pined for someone they couldn't have, and wanted to know every little thing about them just to feed their own fantasies. L generally didn't take those cases either, although he might be persuaded to do it if the money were good enough. In such cases, he'd make sure to watch the person very closely, and report them if they did something amiss. Anyway, no matter which group Raito fell into, there could be no doubt that he was trouble. He might in fact be a kind of hybrid case: a highly selfish lover who wanted to know about the person he fucked so that he could better manipulate them and keep them under his thumb. It was an alarming thought, and L knew he wanted nothing to do with such a person. And in any case, it stung to think of Raito considering this whole thing so coldly, like a scientist in the lab. If Raito were not interesting in talking to him, why should L be?

It wasn't until the last time they'd met that Raito had actually asked for a rendezvous, and by that time, L had already known about his little investigation. Knowing what he did, L had done everything he could to reject the invitation, but Raito had interrogated him so thoroughly about his reasons that in the end, he'd had to admit that he had nothing else planned and nothing else in particular to do.

"Then you can definitely come," he had said. And then he had reached over and sipped at the drink that he had bought L, just to piss him off.

Now the two of them sat, to L's discomfort, in a secluded booth in the back, where few of the other patrons could see or hear them. L wasn't really sure what the point of this little get-together was, since Raito kept the conversation to inane topics and hadn't done anything that could be considered a come-on. Perhaps he was just going through the motions before trying to drag him into bed. Perhaps he was just waiting for L to let his guard down, the way Aiber used to do. Or perhaps he had changed his mind about the whole thing, and that even the "couple of fucks" that Aiber had forecast were now never to happen. If that were the case, L saw no other reason to endure his company. Most of all, he just wanted to go home. There was an interesting case that he might be able to finish tonight, if he left now. Watari had just made a pan of rich chocolate brownies. L craved the freedom to sit in his normal position and sip tea instead of mixed drinks and not be forced to talk to anyone, least of all this villain in Versace. He was barely even listening to Raito, now.

"Recently at work, I found myself in need in a private detective," Raito was saying. "I didn't want to bother you about it, as it's just a minor case and probably not worth your time, so I went looking for another investigator. I had more trouble than I expected. For one thing, the first detective I went to refused to take the case, claiming that he and his partner declined to work with those in politics. Someone by the name of Aiber…"

L looked up sharply. Raito seemed to have been waiting for this reaction.

"It seems that the two of you go way back – that's what he told me. Actually, he was quite scurrilous with me. It made me very curious about your history, Lawliet. Very curious indeed. Tell me…what is he to you?"

L felt himself blushing, no matter how hard he tried to will it away. He had a sneaking suspicion that Raito already had a pretty good idea of just what Aiber had been to him, but he decided to hope against hope that it was not so.

"There's not a lot to tell," he said. "It's true that we've known each other for years, back almost to my first days in this job. We collaborate on cases sometimes. I've never liked him, but like a bad penny, he seems to be always turning up."

"I think we both know there's more to it than that," said Raito, in a tone of jovial patronage. "Tell me, Lawliet – just what did he do to you to make you blush so furiously now?"

"W-w-what? Nothing! Just what are you implying here? !"

"Was he your first?"

"You've got some nerve – !"

"Are you still sleeping with him? I think that's the key question here."

"I…I…" L flailed helplessly, realizing that Raito would find ways to root out the answer, with or without his help. "…Not anymore," he managed. He hung his head in shame.

"Really?" Raito raised his chin sharply with one hand, so that he could look L directly in the eyes. L had the impression he was searching for the truth in them. He seemed to find what he was looking for, because after a moment he released L, and his eyes were a bit softer.

"I'm tempted to think less of you for sleeping with scum like him," said Raito, regarding L rather coolly. "But then again, I don't doubt his used every tool in his arsenal to trip you into bed in what must have been a very well-orchestrated seduction….And virgins are always the most vulnerable to dipshits like him. Really, how else could _he_ have hoodwinked you?"

L's flush intensified. "Hookwinked" or not, there was no doubt that he had enjoyed the sex. However, he would die before saying so much to Raito.

"…It was a gradual thing. Over time he worked at getting close to me, until he was near enough to make a move. And even then, it was a while before he got me to consent to…"

"Sex," said Raito slyly. His eyes were making promises to L.

"Why do you assume that he's the only one I've known?" said L, wanting to prolong the argument and deflect the heat of Raito's stare.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong."

L did manage to look him in the eyes, but he didn't say anything.

"I knew it. And I won't have you trying to hide from me, Lawliet."

"You should talk," L muttered. "Isn't there something you need to tell me, Yagami-san?"

"Other than not to sleep with sleazy trolls anymore, I can't think of a thing."

"Is that so? What a remarkable thing. Why don't you tell me the real reason you saw Aiber? I've already heard it from him that you're investigating me."

"Did you, now? And are you really going to take a conman with a fixation on you at his word? I didn't think you were that naïve."

"I don't need to take his word for it, seeing as how I'm a capable detective myself. I know you hired Sato-san last week. He's a middling detective at best, and I really haven't left a lot of information about myself floating around in the world, so I doubt he'll be able to help you much. My job, my home, Watari, my birthplace…that's probably the most you will obtain. It hardly seems a fair trade – that you should have exploded any chance of speaking to me again, just for a few background notes."

Raito looked nothing short of furious, although there was a flicker of unease in his eyes. "If I've been a bit over-zealous, it is only because I wanted to know you better, and you, my dear Lawliet, are locked tighter than a steel trap when it comes to personal information. How else would you expect me to allay my disadvantage? How could anyone ever get to know you when you just barely give them your name?"

"You see, Yagami-san, there's this wonderful thing called conversation. You really ought to try it sometime. Unfortunately I won't be there to practice with you, but knowing you, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone willing. Perhaps that woman you sicced on me could –"

"She's my assistant, Lawliet, now don't be ridiculous."

"Well, what about that other woman I saw you here with? Come to think of it, just how many of these blonde women do you have at your beck and call? What the hell do you need me for, anyway? I don't appreciate being played with."

"I think you ought to know the answer to that question, Lawliet," said Raito, brushing his fingers over the back of L's hand. "And really….Can't I play with the people I want to play with?"

L stood and moved to slap Raito's smug face, but Raito grabbed his wrist and held it in a vise-grip. When L made to free himself with his other hand, Raito grabbed that wrist, too, and forced L back into his seat.

"Let me take you out somewhere," said Raito, who was apparently trying to resume his earnest act. "I know a wonderful French place – some of the best Western cuisine in this town, guaranteed, and with an extensive wine list the likes of which you've never seen. And I know they have a terrific dessert menu, if that's what you want. The crêpes are especially good."

"God, is this always how it starts? What's with you perverts, do you all read from the same playbook or something?"

Raito regarded him with narrowed eyes. "Well, in that case, let's not take tips from dear Aiber-san, but go in a new direction. Come back to my place."

L stared at him as if he were insane.

"What?" said Raito waspishly. "Didn't you just say the tired old seduction ritual had no value to you? Then let's cut right to the chase…"

"If that _tired old seduction ritual_, with which I'm sure you have vast experience, fails to entice me, still less will the vulgar thought of _heading back to your place_ purely for sex." He managed not to hesitate before saying that last word, but he obviously lowered his voice, fearing that someone might hear him say it. Fearing, perhaps, that _Raito_ might hear him say it.

"Still come to my place. We might talk, have a drink in a quieter and more private place than this swill-house. I'll even make you something sweet, if you want."

"Yeah, right. I know what _you_ want."

"Don't make me sound like some kind of pervert. All I want is a bit of pleasure between two consenting adults. This isn't some crisis situation – it's not as if I'm forcing you. All you have to do is say yes…" He smirked. "…or yes."

L narrowed his eyes. "And what if I say _no_?"

"Then how do you plan on ever having someone? Don't tell me you've gone celibate (although I'd believe that, after Aiber). You seem to think I've gone about this the wrong way – you used the word 'vulgar,' even. So tell me, Your Highness: if a date won't work, and pure sex won't work, then what _will_?"

"Nothing that feels as sleazy as all this, I can tell you that."

"Nothing that…God, just how _did_ Aiber get you into bed? ?"

L suddenly blushed bright red, remembering hands on his skin, the way Aiber had wrongfully touched him and enticed him until he could no longer resist.

Raito was staring hard at him, and slowly a smirk – a very self-satisfied, plotting sort of smirk that promised danger for L – began sliding onto his face.

"Oh, I get it," he said huskily, and his eyes were fixed on L's blushing face and uncertain eyes. "What I need to do…to get you to choose me…" He was slowly leaning in now, closer than he ever had before. "…Is take the choice out of your hands completely."

L was paralyzed and feeling very much like a hunted deer as Raito came still closer, giving him plenty of time to pull back while knowing he would not – knowing that the heat in his eyes and the sensual moves of his body would be enough to keep L ensnared. Raito cupped the back of L's head and pulled him in for a kiss. Soft, clever lips grazed and teased his, deliberately holding back from giving L what he really wanted. If L had still been able to think, he might have wondered why it was always so much harder for the person being teased to resist pressing further than it was for the teaser. As it was, he could barely remember his own name. A licentious tongue was pressing between his lips and L's entire body was burning with the need to yield and let it sink in deep. For a moment he was merely unresisting as Raito plundered his mouth with virtuoso skill, but soon he was shaking with suppressed energy as he kissed Raito back desperately, pressing closer and hyperconscious of the warm hand stroking his arm soothingly. His world narrowed to the points of contact between them, his skin that burned for Raito's touch, and Raito's body that he needed to lay hands upon. Not only his face but his entire body seemed to flush red, so feverish did he feel, and most of all in the sensitive area between his legs. He just felt so swept away and helpless and _oh god what did he just do with his tongue? ?_

L was still trembling as Raito slowly wound the kiss down from desperate to sensually slow, and finally broke it off entirely.

"You've never been kissed like that before, have you?" Raito said, with an extremely smug look.

L realized his mouth was still wide open in shock, and he snapped it closed while Raito smirked.

"Just imagine what it'll be like, once we're in a bed and I can touch you anywhere and everywhere I want," whispered Raito, leaning back in again to speak into his ear. And then he was gently kissing L's neck while L trembled and yearned.

After that, L's memory of events went hazy for a long while. There was touching, and whispering, and desire, and eventually an exit from the bar into the rainy streets outside. There was a cab ride back to Raito's place, a short walk to the front step, and then they were alone and Raito was thrusting him against the door and beginning to tear his clothes off. And that was good…oh, so good…

"I regret that it wasn't me who first took you…" Raito whispered. "It drives me crazy to know you've felt another man's touch…_especially_ an asshole like Aiber….I swear, I'll make you forget all about him…"

There was one more short journey, from the front hallway to Raito's bedroom, and then there was another door pressing into L's back as Raito pressed into his front. Their mouths were moving sinuously together, speaking a private language of desire even as their bodies pulsed together and two hard lengths rubbed against each other through their clothes. L felt that they had become completely primal now. After a few minutes they parted for air and stood panting for a moment, staring at one another and trembling with the force of desire that seemed to shake the very air around them, just as the rain outside shook the windows. L had the crazy feeling that he was in the eye of the storm.

"Now _that_ was a kiss," Raito said, his eyes wide and intense, and his mouth smiling. He looked L over, and the expression which L cautiously classified as joyful slid into something much more lascivious, in a way that made L wonder if he had consciously purged that open look from his face.

"There are so many other places that need kissing, don't you agree?" Raito breathed, bending to L's neck and grasping the door to shut it behind him as the tempest of desire began anew.

From behind that closed door one might have heard panting, breathy moans, and the odd thump. After a while there came a rhythmic creaking that rapidly crescendoed even as the sound of two voices rose with it. Soon, there came a loud cry and a long moan and all at once the creaking stopped and all that could be heard was the sound of rain and thunder, now receding into the distance. For a long while there was quiet, broken only by the soft whispers of the sated, until there came a merry laugh, and then a voice:

"_You're_ the one who broke the Hayashi-Sanjo scandal? ! I never knew!"

* * *

><p>Afterwards, when L lay dazed and overwhelmed even as the last aftershocks of orgasm began to subside, he spared a moment to take stock of what had just happened. Somehow, he had thrown away all his reservations about Raito, and gone to bed with him. He would probably come to regret it later, and in fact he felt himself already beginning to rue the act.<p>

_This cannot possibly end well._

At least with Aiber, L had always known where they both stood. Raito's reasons and motivations remained a complete mystery to him, and the one thing L knew for sure about him was that he could not be trusted. Was it only sex that Raito wanted, or was there more? Just what did Raito expect from him? He didn't know. And yet even as he tried to seriously consider all the ramifications of sleeping with Raito, certain other thoughts kept intruding on him. Thoughts such as…

_Is sex this good for everyone, or am I just lucky?_

He'd always assumed that Aiber was an usually skilled lover. Surely, the pleasure he'd given L, especially at the start of their affair, had been such that he would never experience with anyone else (if there _were_ ever anyone else). Yet his first time with Raito rivalled the very best he'd had with Aiber. There was a different feeling to it….Sometimes L felt a certain vulgarity, or coarseness, in Aiber's technique, whereas Raito was more refined, and somehow _cleverer_ as a lover, which seemed to fit with his vast intelligence. His lips were softer, and he was a better kisser overall. His eyes were more intense. His hair felt silky to the touch…

And his body. God, his body…was perfection. There was no other word that could do justice to that smooth, tight frame with the sun-kissed skin and lithe limbs and dusky nipples that L knew were so sensitive. He could look at Raito for days and think the time well spent. If L had been puzzled that someone who looked like Aiber would want him, he was fully powerless to explain Raito's passion. Unless it had to do with L's intelligence. That at least would make sense to him, although in his own experience, intellect and thinking had very little to do with what happened in the bedroom. Perhaps Raito was different, or was simply bored of all the gorgeous conquests that L imagined he'd had. Perhaps Raito didn't even know why he wanted him.

Raito so far exceeded L's wildest hopes for a new lover that he almost imagined it was some kind of crazy dream. And yet things were far from perfect: Raito, in his own way, was even more forcefully possessive than Aiber. It was clear in the way he'd pursued L, in the way he held him. It couldn't be true that sexual intensity went hand-in-hand with unhealthy relationships, could it? If the popular imagination were to be believed, great sex invariably went together with great romance, and _that_ seemed to be quite the opposite of what he had with either Raito or Aiber. So he wasn't sure what to think. Perhaps this was just the sort of lover he attracted: forceful and intense. Perhaps it was a coincidence. Perhaps he ought to stop making conjectures about universal human truths based on his own limited experience.

L lay back, staring at the ceiling and wondering how he'd gotten here. How was it that he, the reclusive and plain detective, had wound up in the bed of this AWOL fashion model? A brilliant and fiendishly seductive one, furthermore. This felt like a page out of someone else's life, like an intrusion into a scene that was never meant for him. And yet here he was, and the seconds were passing by and this topsy-turvy reality still refused to dissolve back into something that resembled his life.

_Might as well get used to it….It seems I'm not going to wake up from this insane dream, after all. _

Raito lay sleeping at his side. He lay facing L and almost touching him, his body curled up a bit and his hair artfully mussed on the pillow, like it was meant to be displayed so. The room was warm, and with the added heat of the blankets and their close bodies, Raito's cheeks were a bit pinked. Those sweet lips were parted slightly, and L could hear his quiet breaths in a calming rhythm that tempted him to return to sleep beside him, or else watch him all night long. It took a shamefully great effort for L to tear his eyes away from the mesmerizing sight, and turn over so that he could think more clearly, and decide what to do now. Should he stay, or should he go? Certainly staying would be easier at the moment, and the heat of Raito's body enticed him to sink back into sleep. But what was easier now would certainly not be so in the morning, when he would have to deal with a very much _awake_ Raito again. Perhaps he should save himself the torture of having to deal with "morning after" awkwardness, and leave now.

He glanced over his shoulder at Raito, and wondered if he were a heavy sleeper or not. As awkward as the morning would be, more awkward still would be Raito waking up to find L leaving in the middle of the night, without a word. The thought of those eyes, drowsy but still hard upon him as they gazed in judgement, seemed to paralyze him where he lay.

_What to do, what to do? _L thought, his gaze wandering vaguely around the room, taking in its elegant décor, the beautifully carved desk and the high shelves of books. It was beautiful, and all very much in a style that L liked, and yet L had rarely felt more out of place anywhere. Raito must have put a lot of work into this, he thought. It was so very different from L's own cramped, messy house and office that he shared with Watari. L had never much cared about the environment in which he lived – so long as he had a computer with internet, his work papers, some clothes, and a mighty reserve of sweets and caffeine, he was content. His surroundings ceased to exist in the time that he was working on cases. But now (and not for the first time, where Raito was concerned) he suddenly felt very inadequate. He had always assumed that others of his intelligence would be much like himself, messy and strange and awkward, and he used that as an excuse to justify himself. But seeing Raito now, with his perfect looks, his gorgeous house, his effortless, deadly charm….It was a greater blow to L's self-esteem than he cared to admit. This place felt so _alien_, beautiful but alien…rather like Raito himself. The mind that should have felt the closest to his own instead felt the remotest.

_Raito…Raito…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: In case you're wondering…yes, the title is totally meant as a double entendre. By the way, sorry about the lack of RaitoxL smut here! Truth is, I was kind of lemoned-out after all the AiberxL smut I wrote, and the RaitoxL stuff isn't really meant to be the focus of the story, anyway. Besides, I know I couldn't do a RaitoxL scene as well as uberneko-zero does it, so I decided not to try :(

That line about diarrhoea was inspired by a study I once read about, something to do with showing the disconnect between the way words sound and what they actually mean. If I remember right, they had a bunch of non-English speakers listen to a number of English words, and diarrhoea was the word they thought sounded the nicest XD

There are a number of things here that you may recognize from uberneko-zero's fic: the pen, the coasters, Raito investigating L, the rainy-day cab ride to Raito's place, etc. I didn't stray too far from the original set-up, but I wanted to make things different enough so that they would still seem fresh. I hope I succeeded in doing that. And obviously some things were different. For one, Aiber refuses to help Raito and taunts him, and then immediately tells L what Raito's doing. Thus, the rivalry begins a lot earlier. For another thing, Raito's less careful with L, because he knows that L already has some sexual experience. Also, L's obviously more comfortable with sex here, because he's had a lot of it, and he's also had a lot of practice at sparring with an aggressive seducer, so that he's a bit better at resisting Raito and standing up to him.

I had enormous fun writing the Raito-Aiber scene, by the way. It's the only one in this fic in which L does not appear. Since the fic is supposed to be from L's POV, I considered not including it, but since it's only happening inside L's head anyway, I figured he was omniscient enough inside his own story for the scene to make sense. I also wished I could've included something from Aiber's POV, but since L doesn't really understand Aiber or how he sees him, I decided I couldn't do that. I really wanted to describe the part, a couple chapters back, where Aiber watches L sleep, but I just couldn't see how that would make sense – if L doesn't think he's attractive, how could I have the Aiber in L's head rhapsodizing over him while he sleeps? Oh, well.

Almost done now – see you in the epilogue!


	8. Epilogue: The Road Not Taken

Epilogue: **The Road Not Taken**

The vision was fading from L's mind now, going slowly to black like the end of a dream, as the name of the most hateful, wonderful person pounded through his mind like a drum beat. L was almost surprised to find himself in his own bed again, by himself, in a world in which he had never slept with Aiber and might never see Raito again.

_Oh God. Raito. _

Even in a fantasy, somehow it had all come back to Raito, exactly what he hadn't wanted to think about. But he wasn't really surprised. In his mind, all roads led to Raito these days.

How would things have fallen out, had the affair that Aiber obviously wished that they had had actually played out? L wasn't sure whether things would have turned out better or worse in the end – whether Aiber, having had just about as much of L as was likely to ever have, would have resigned himself to the inevitable break between them, or would have tried all the harder to get L back into his bed and away from his competition. It was impossible to say. Who knew what really went on behind those icy eyes of his? But L did feel that, had he been more experienced – and less cowed by Raito – in the beginning of their strange relationship, things might have gone more smoothly between them. Then, they would have started off on a more equal footing, and Raito would perhaps not have become quite so obsessed with insuring that L remained untouched by all others. He had certainly suspected, at least for a while, that Aiber was a significant temptation for L. Perhaps he would have seen Aiber as less of a credible threat if L had already been with him but had declined to continue the relationship. Then again, Raito might have hated Aiber all the more for having known L that way, even if it had been years before he met Raito.

But it was stupid to begin these speculative games. As like as not, L wouldn't even have been in the bar that particular night, if the context of his going had been so different. He might never even have met Raito….Never have met Raito…

Would that have been better?

No – despite everything, despite the misery Raito had inflicted upon him, the option of never having met him still seemed worse, even if he would never have known the difference. As low as the lows in the relationship were, the highs were yet higher, of an exquisite and somehow pure beauty that made L ache just at the memory. No – if memory was all he could have, he would rather take that than nothing at all.

Still…no matter how repugnant the idea of being with Aiber now seemed to him, at least in that case, L would have had a chance to know what sex was like with someone who wasn't Raito, so that Raito wouldn't be the sum total of all L's sexual experience. The urge to be normal was still with him, and while having had one lover (briefly) was better than none at all, it still fell far short of most people's experience at his age. He had lost his virginity, and yet so much still seemed so new to him. It was seeming less and less likely now that he would ever know what it was like to be with a woman, or with anyone else at all. If this relationship fell through, would he even want to seek out another? Would he even be capable of it? With L feeling the way he now did, that seemed about as doable as walking on water.

Aiber really did seem to think that if L and Raito broke up, he would be able to get close to L and seduce him. But that really wasn't possible now, if it had ever really been so. The way Aiber was acting now was completely unacceptable, and if Aiber had ever had a chance with him at all, it was now gone. Even if a…breakup…with Raito were to happen, even if L spent the rest of his life lonely and chaste, he would never venture into Aiber's bed now. Aiber might accuse him of brushing him off, of not giving him a chance to know him – but in the end, it was Aiber who had sabotaged things between them. L wondered now…

Just how long would it take for Aiber to realize that L would never be his?

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: The title of the chapter, besides referring to a fine poem by Robert Frost, is taken from the part where it says that in L's head, all roads lead to Raito. L pretty much assumes that he would have met Raito in any case, and thus to him, this version of the story is the "road (to Raito) not taken." And obviously, the title also refers to Aiber, and the choice L makes about whether or not to sleep with him. In uberneko's story, he doesn't, but in this story, he does, which makes his relationship with Aiber "the road not taken." He doesn't regret not sleeping with Aiber, but he does wonder whether, if he _had_ slept with Aiber, he would've been better prepared for Raito to enter his life, and thus would've had a better chance of staying together with him.

Poor PITCH!L is always stuck in unhealthy relationships. It really shouldn't be as much fun to read about as it is. The way I see it, reading about unhealthy, sexy relationships in fanfic or BL is like watching Neo dodge slow-mo bullets in _The Matrix_: awesome to think about, but not something that should ever be attempted in real life! It just has Do Not Try This At Home, Kids written all over it.

There were a number of OCs in this story. Their names were taken from the names of former Japanese prime ministers, which I mixed and matched together in a name stew. I also made use of the given name of Hatoyama Yasuko, the daughter-in-law of one prime minister and the mother of another. The list of people whose names I stole also includes:

Sanjō Sanetomi

Saionji Kinmochi

Yamamoto Gonbee

Wakatsuki Reijirō

Hayashi Senjūrō

Koiso Kuniaki

Hatoyama Ichirō

Ishibashi Tanzan

Satō Eisaku

Takeshita Noboru

Hata Tsutomu

Asō Tarō

Kan Naoto

The English spellings are from Wikipedia, so don't complain to me that they're not consistent. I've gone on the assumption that the spelling given in a Wiki article is that person's preferred romanization.

Well, that's the end! It was really a lot of fun writing this fic, and I really hope that you enjoyed it. If you liked it, please drop a review and let me know! I also invite you to check out my other stories. As for upcoming attractions, I have a crackish (and **very dirty**) LxLightxL oneshot largely completed, which I mean to post before too long; the working title is "Great Balls of Fire." Suffice it to say that the premise revolves around L having many, many orgasms :D I hope to see you there!

Cheers,

yellowrose87


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